CI  Bk. 


THE  ETHEL  CARR  PEACOCK 
MEMORIAL  COLLECTION 

Matris  amori  monumentum 


TRINITY  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 


DURHAM,  N.  C. 
1903 

Gift  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Dred  Peacock 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2014 

https://archive.org/details/alamancechurchhi1217wile 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


A  HISTORICAL  ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  AT 

The  Dedication  of  its  Fourth 
House  of  Worship, 

On  October  18th,  1879. 


By  Rev.  C.  H.  WILEY. 

Published  by  the  Congregation  and  other  friends  of  the  Church. 


EALEIGH: 
Edwards,  Broughton  &  Co.,  Printers  and  Binders, 
July,  1880. 


Introduction. 


The  occasion  of  this  address  occurred  on  Saturday  of  the 
Fall  Session  of  Orange  Presbytery,  at  Alamance  Church. 
The  dedication  services  had  been  assigned  to  me  by  the 
pastor  and  congregation,  and  consisted  of  a  historical  ad- 
dress in  the  morning,  and  a  sermon  in  the  afternoon,  with 
devotional  exercises  ;  a  very  large  crowd  was  present,  and 
arrangements  were  made  at  once  for  the  publication,  in 
pamphlet  form,  of  both  the  address  and  sermon.  I  spoke 
from  notes,  and  the  pressure  of  ray  heavy  and  exacting  en- 
gagements prevented,  for  a  considerable  time,  the  prepara- 
tion of  these  efforts  for  the  press;  and  finally,  acting  on  my 
own  discretion,  and  solely  with  a  view  to  convenience  in 
the  size  of  the  publication,  and  to  the  saving  of  expense  to 
my  friends,  I  have  concluded  to  have  only  the  address 
printed,  tho'  I  am  aware  that  this  will  be  a  disappointment 
to  many.  I  sincerely  regret  a  delay  I  could  not  avoid,  and 
hope  that  all  concerned  will  concur  with  me  that  the  pam- 
phlet, in  its  present  form,  is  large  enough,  and  wTill  serve 
the  purpose  chiefly  designed,  of  being  a  memorial  of  Ala- 
mance. 

C.  H.  WILEY. 

Winston,  N.  C,  April  21st,  1880. 


Address. 


General  History  and  Early  Settlement. 

Fidelity  to  the  task  assigned  to  me  will  not  permit  me  to 
indulge  in  the  expression  of  the  reflections  and  emotions 
excited  by  the  occasion.  A  mere  narrative,  in  a  condensed 
form,  of  the  facts  worthy  of  mention,  will  require  all  the 
time  I  should  occupy,  and  yet  I  am  constrained  to  advert 
to  some  of  the  circumstances  of  my  position  here  to-day, 
and  with  which  I  am  profoundly  affected.  Your  speaker  is 
the  fourth  in  descent  from  the  donor1  of  the  land  on  which 
Alamance  church  was  founded,  a  man  whose  family  name 
has  passed  from  this  community,  and  yet  his  great  grand- 
son is  the  orator  on  this  memorable  occasion  ;  and  by  his 
side,  assisting  in  these  services,  is  a  young  man2  of  the  name 
and  lineage  of  one3  who  was  among  the  first,  if  she  was  not 
the  first  person  buried  in  the  consecrated  ground  near  us. 
This  is  one  of  the  old  churches  of  the  State,  and  four  gen- 
erations have  worshipped  here,  and  nearly  if  not  every  one 
of  those  who  planted  it  in  what  was  then  a  wilderness  is 
represented  by  kindred  here  to-day. 

But  while  these  first  planters  here  of  the  church  of  Christ 
were,  also,  the  first  white  occupants  of  the  soil,  they  were 
not  subjected  to  the  privations  and  dangers  often  encoun- 
tered by  those  who  subdue  new  countries  to  the  interests 
and  institutions  of  civilized  life.  This  region  was  then  un- 
der the  protection  of  local  government  whose  authority  was 
acknowledged  and  felt,  and  whose  administrative  machin- 
ery, tho>  somewhat  clumsy,  and  far  less  beneficent  than 
what  a  statesman  of  this  age  could  desire,  afforded  security 
to  life  and  property  to  all  communities  within  the  jxresent 
limits  of  the  State.    The  province  of  North  Carolina  had 


^Villiam  Cusach.         2Kev.  B.  W.  Mebane.         3Mary  Mebane. 


6 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


been  laid  off  for  a  considerable  time,  and  was  first  settled  on 
its  eastern  border  by  slow  degrees,  and  in  various  ways. 
In  the  east  its  government  was  first  formed,  and  from  its 
surroundings  in  the  place  of  its  origin  and  of  its  growth  for 
years  there  was  established  a  policy  which  was  afterwards 
considered  a  source  of  grievance  by  the  western  settlers. 
The  first  home  of  power  was  jealous  of  its  removal,  and 
partly  on  this  account,  and  partly  for  economy  and  conve- 
nience, it  became  the  habit  to  lav  off  new  counties  over 
large  areas — and  when  this  section  was  settled  what  is  now 
Guilford  county  was  embraced  within  the  limits  of  Orange 
and  Rowan.  The  line  ran  some  miles  east  of  this  place, 
and  most  of  this  congregation  was  in  Rowan  county. 

As  most  of  my  hearers  are  aware,  the  province  of  Caro- 
lina, embracing  what  is  now  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 
extending  westward  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  was  granted  by 
King  Charles  II.  to  eight  Lords  Proprietors — that  these  sur- 
rendered their  right  to  the  crown  in  1729,  one  of  them, 
Lord  Carteret,  afterwards  Earl  Granville,  retaining  his  un- 
divided interest  in  the  soil,  and  that  at  this  time  two  dis- 
tinct provincial  governments  were  established  for  North  and 
South  Carolina — and  that  in  the  year  1743  Earl  Granville's 
interest  was  laid  off  in  severalty,  and  embraced  the  northern 
side  of  North  Carolina,  and  as  far  south  as  the  present  Mont- 
gomery line,  or  near  to  it,  and  thus  included  the  lands  in 
this  congregation.  Tho'  this  Proprietor  retained  no  politi- 
cal power,  his  rights  in  the  soil  involved  land  offices  and 
agencies,  forming  a  sort  of  government  within  a  govern- 
ment, and  involving  complications  and  burdens  which  ad- 
ded to  those  grievances  which  helped  to  prepare  the  way 
for  Revolution.  This  was  the  political  situation  just  before 
the  settlement  of  this  region  by  the  whites.  Colonization 
on  the  Southern  Atlantic  border  had  been  largely  confined 
to  the  coast  region — there  the  governments  were  seated,  and  j 
the  power  and  hostility  of  the  Indian  tribes  were  met  and 
overcome.    There  were  the  scenes  of  privation,  adventure, 


GENERAL  HISTORY  AND  EARLY  SETTLEMENT.  7 

and  border  license  and  crime;  and  finally,  political  systems 
crystalized  into  fixed  forms,  the  authority  of  law  was  estab- 
lished, and  in  the  province  of  North  Carolina,  as  already 
stated,  was  felt  and  respected  over  all  the  territory,  as  far  at 
least  as  the  present  limits  of  the  State  extend.  But  the  far 
greater  portion  of  the  country,  even  within  our  present 
boundaries,  wTas  without  white  inhabitants,  and  the  beauti- 
ful middle  region  was  the  wide  highway  of  traders  from  the 
eastern  colonies  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  with  the 
Indians  west  and  south  of  them.  A  vast  and  grand  country 
in  the  Piedmont  regions  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  was 
reserved  by  Providence  for  the  planting  of  a  race  who  were 
to  be  fixed  in  the  morally  stragetic  points  of  the  continent, 
and  thence  to  permeate  a  great  coming  nation  with  the  out- 
growth of  their  character;  and  at  the  appointed  time  the 
flow  of  this  new  life,  a  most  interesting  phenomenon  in  the 
history  of  human  migration,  began,  and  filled  all  its  ap- 
pointed channels. 

I  refer  to  what  is  called  the  Scotch  Irish  movement,  too 
well  known  to  require  here  more  than  a  bare  allusion,  with 
the  remark  that  it  was  reserved  for  a  time,  a  set  time  and 
occasion,  and  for  no  other.  This  Scotch  overflow  seemed  to 
have  been  ordered  for  the  planting  of  good  seed  in  vital 
centers  of  the  American  Continent,  and  since  the  settling  of 
this  country  the  population  of  Scotland  has  ceased  to  seek 
agricultural  outlets,  and  has  become  largely  a  manufactu- 
ring people.  When  the  overflow  through  Ireland,  and 
thence  to  the  northern  parts  of  America  was  occurring,  the 
Providential  reservations  for  it  in  this  region  were  becoming 
known  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  were  to  those  con- 
templating a  removal  what  the  Great  West  is  now. 

And  here  it  is  proper  to  glance  at  the  hill  country  of  our 
State  as  it  was  when  our  fathers  first  took  possession  of  it. 
Old  writers  describe  it  in  glowing  terms,  and  a  Virginian1 


'Col.  Byrd. 


8 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


who  was  on  the  Commission  of  1728-29,  to  run  the  bound- 
ary between  his  Province  and  that  of  North  Carolina,  en- 
tered a  large  tract,  in  what  is  now  Rockingham  county,  and 
called  it  Eden.  There  was  a  charm  to  the  eye  as  well  as 
an  economical  value  in  the  undulations  of  the  surface,  the 
air,  as  now,  where  it  is  not  poisoned  by  an  unwise  system 
of  culture  and  improvements,  was  salubrious,  the  alterna- 
tions of  the  seasons  delightful,  and  the  resources  of  timber, 
of  minerals,  of  water  power,  and  of  agricultural  production 
varied  and  immense.  There  was  no  better  watered  land, 
and  no  purer  water  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  in  spring,  sum- 
mer, and  autumn  nature  was  robed  in  flowers  of  every  hue, 
and  the  great  forests  were  vocal  with  the  hum  of  bees  and 
the  songs  of  birds.  There  was  everywhere  rich  pasturage 
for  cattle,  and  a  soil  whose  abounding  wealth  and  capacity 
still  show  its  power  after  many  years  of  a  careless  and  wast- 
ing husbandry. 

The  variety  of  woody  growth  was  exceeded  no  where  else 
in1  the  world,  and  much  of  the  country  was  in  forests  of 
oaks  of  every  species,  of  poplar,  walnut,  hickory,  elm,  gum, 
maple,  ash,  chestnut,  beech,  birch,  and  pine,  with  many 
smaller  varieties,  and  with  a  profusion  of  flowering  and 
fruit  bearing  shrubs  and  vines ;  and  everywhere,  in  these 
primeval  woods,  with  their  trees  of  enormous  size,  game  was 
abundant,  and  even  in  the  small  streams  there  was  a  good 


lrrhe  pamphlet  called  "Woody  Plants  of  North  Carolina,"  by  the 
late  Kev.  M.  L.  Curtis,  D.D.,  and  published  with  our  State  Geological 
Reports,  was  prepared  at  my  instance,  and  for  me,  on  a  plan  of  my  sug- 
gestion, when  I  was  thinking  of  publishing  a  Gazetteer  of  the  State. 
The  MS.  was  long  in  my  possession,  and  given  by  me  to  the  State,  and 
in  the  first  Preface,  the  learned  author  who  was  an  accomplished  and 
enthusiastic  botanist,  stated  that  the  variety  of  indigenous  trees  and 
woody  plants  in  North  Carolina  was  twice  asgreat  as  in  the  whole 
region  from  northern  Virginia  to  eastern  Main  ;  and  a  scientific  English- 
man, who  was  in  the  VanBuren  exploring  expedition  around  the  world, 
told  me  that  he  found  more  kinds  of  wild  flowers  in  Guilford  and  the 
adjoining  region  than  he  had  ever  seen  elsewhere. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  AND  EARLY  SETTLEMENT.  9 

supply  of  fish.  The  generation  next  before  me  remembered 
when  shad  ascended  the  North  Buffalo  within  the  bounds 
of  this  congregation,  when  deer  were  still  lingering  within 
their  old  haunts,  and  when  bears  revisited  them  in  the 
chestnut  season,  and  the  wild  turkeys  are  still  here,  and 
will  stay  if  we  are  wise.  This  was  the  place  of  habitation 
prepared  by  the  God  of  Nature  for  our  fathers,  and  hither 
they  came,  not  as  adventurers  or  hunters,  not  as  outlaws 
and  wanderers,  but  intelligent  immigrants  with  a  fair 
knowledge  of  the  country,  in  solid  ranks,  with  good  worldly 
substance,  with  needed  implements  of  industry,  with  the 
arts  of  civilization,  and  with  the  institutions  of  Christian 
society.  The  first  movement  was  about  the  years  1750— '53^ 
from  Pennsylvania,  through  what  was  called  the  Notting- 
ham Company,  which  purchased  a  body  of  land  within  the- 
limits  of  the  present  counties  of  Rockingham  and  Guilford. 
Others  soon  followed,  flowing  southward,  and  purchasing 
lands  directly  from  Earl  Granville,  and  settling  the  region, 
of  this  congregation  ;  and  in  a  short  time  there  was  a  com-* 
paratively  compact  society,  fixed  in  comfortable  and  peace- 
ful homes,  entirely  self-sustaining,  and  having  opened  farms, 
mills,  shops  and  stores.  A  new  country,  up  to  that  time, 
had  never  been  more  rapidly,  quietly,  safely,  justly,  and 
completely  possessed  ;  the  land  was  bought  at  fair  purchase, 
and  not  a  title  was  stained  by  fraud  or  violence  to  the  origi- 
nal owners;  there  were  no  wars  w7ith  savages,  no  border 
ruffians,  no  refugees  from  justice  and  the  restraints  of  law. 
The  main  body  of  colonists  was  Scotch-Irish  and  Presbyte- 
rian from  Pennsylvania,  swelled  by  accessions  from  Vir- 
ginia and  Ireland,  and  this  was  fringed  on  the  east  by  Ger- 
mans, and  on  the  west  by  the  people  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  These  settlers  were  probably  neighbors  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  at  all  events  they  were  largely  affected  by  the 
same  motives  which  brought  the  Scotch-Irish.  The  mass 
of  all  were  intelligent,  sturdy,  well-to-do  farmers,  with  a 
keen  eye  for  good  land  and  a  fine  climate,  of  fixed  religious 


10 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


faith,  and  devoted  to  self-government  and  religious  freedom. 
The  three  classes,  each,  at  base,  of  sterling  metal,  were  of 
mutual  service,  and  helped  to  repress  in  each  other  those 
one-sided  views,  narrow  sympathies,  and  extreme  conserva- 
tism which  spring  from  isolation.  The  Alamance  commu- 
nity was  then  all  Scotch-Irish,  and,  as  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  ascertain,  the  first  settlers  came  here  in  1753,  at  least 
this  is  the  date  of  the  earliest  deeds  I  have  examined  among 
ihe  records  of  the  Secretary  of  State  in  Raleigh.  The  deed 
to  my  mother's  grandfather,  Wm.  Cusach,  who  gave  the 
land  for  this  church,  was  from  Earl  Granville,  dated  in 
1759,  and  for  635  acres  ;  and  within  seven  or  eight  years 
from  the  first  location  there  was  a  considerable  and  thriving 
community,  though  some  of  the  farms  were  large,  and  neigh- 
bors were  often  several  miles  apart.  Wm.  Cusach  and  Thos. 
Wiley  married  sisters,  and  with  them  came  their  mother- 
in-law,  Mary  Mebane,  and  thus  three  of  the  old  names  were 
planted  here  together,  and  this  Mary  Mebane  was  one  of 
the  first,  if  she  was  not  the  first,  who  was  buried  in  our 
grave-yard,  as  I  have  already  stated ;  and  I  refer  to  those 
parties  only  because  I  am  more  familiar  with  the  history  of 
my  relatives  than  with  that  of  other  families,  and  not  because 
I  deem  their  history  of  more  importance.  The  general 
character  of  these  first  settlers  may  be  inferred  from  what 
has  been  already  said,  but  it  is  due  to  the  occasion  to  pre- 
sent a  fuller  view  of  its  salient  points.  As  their  history 
shows,  they  came  here  not  merety  to  live  and  to  gain  as  men 
•of  the  world.  They  brought  to  this  fair  land  that  without 
which  any  place  is  a  desert,  and  with  their  first  plantings 
were  the  seeds  of  moral  truth,  with  their  earliest  efforts  to 
provide  for  material  wants  were  thoughts  for  religious  privi- 
leges which  were  with  them  essentials  of  life,  never  lo  be 
dispensed  with.  There  were  few,  if  any,  illiterate  colonists, 
no  desperate  characters,  and  no  paupers.  Most  of  the  set- 
tlers were  men  of  means  and  of  character,  and  in  the  whole 
history  of  this  community,  now  some  century  and  a  quarter 


GENERAL  HISTORY  AND  EARLY  SETTLEMENT.  11 

old}  there  have  been  fewer  great  crimes  than  have  marked 
the  progress  of  some  colonies  in  a  decade  of  years. 

There  were  no  great  Bible  Societies  till  this  century,  and 
it  is  well  known  that  before  the  year  1810  there  was  a  com- 
parative scarcity  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  even  in  the  most 
christian  lands,  and  that  Bibles  were  vastly  more  expensive 
than  now  ;  and  yet  in  my  more  than  ten  years  of  experience 
of  active  official  service  in  three  States,  in  the  now  im- 
mense, omnipresent,  and  glorious  appliances  for  the  univer- 
sal dissemination  of  the  Word,  when  Bibles  are  sold  for  25 
cents  and  Testaments  for  5  cents,  and  when  they  are  freely 
given  to  all  unable  to  buy,  I  have  found  no  communities 
wThich  were  better  supplied  than  this  seems  to  have  been  at 
its  first  settlement.  The  Divine  Word  was  a  necessary  part 
of  the  pioneer's  outfit,  and  old  Bibles  found  all  over  this 
congregation  will  testify  to  what  I  say.  The  colony  was 
planted  on  the  Wcrd  of  God,  this  was  the  Law,  the  school 
book,  the  political  and  social  economy  of  the  colonists,  and 
there  have  descended  to  me  quite  a  number  of  well-thumbed 
copies  of  different  sizes  and  styles,  and  I  suppose  many  here 
have  similar  inheritances.  With  the  Bible  was  found  a 
literature  rooted  in  it,  a  spiritual  and  intellectual  pabulum 
far  superior  to  that  which  is  now  most  common  even  in 
christian  communities.  Many  of  the  first  families  had  re- 
spectable libraries  of  standard  works,  chiefly  religious,  and 
consisting  of  such  books  as  The  Confession  of  Faith,  Larger 
and  Shorter  Catechisms,  The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  the  works 
of  Boston,  of  Doddridge,  of  Baxter  and  Watts,  Fox's  Book 
of  Martyrs,  The  Afflicted  Man's  Companion,  and  the  Balm 
of  Gilead.  I  am  the  inheritor  of  two  old  copies  of  The 
Confession  of  Faith,  with  the  Catechisms,  and  the  Sum  of 
Saving  Knowledge,  and  one  of  them  containing  also  Cove- 
nants, National  and  Solemn  Leagues,  Directories,  Form  of 
Church  Government,  &c.  One,  in  boards  was  published  in 
Glasgow  in  1746,  the  other  in  the  same  city  in  1764.  At 
the  time  of  the  settlements  formed  here  there  was  some  dis- 


12 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


sension  among  Presbyterians,  growing  out  of  the  preaching 
and  movements  of  the  celebrated  George  Whitefield,  and  those 
who  adhered  to  the  revival  doctrines  of  the  great  preacher 
were  called  Whitfieldians,  and  New  Lights,  and  the  colo- 
nists in  North  Carolina  embraced  both  of  these  classes,  and 
their  settlements  were  formed  according  to  their  leanings 
in  this  matter.  The  people  of  Alamance  were  of  the  New 
Light,  the  communities  north  of  them  of  the  old  habits  ; 
and  when  both  of  these  classes  were  formed  into  one  pasto- 
rate, under  the  ministry  of  a  man  who  was  an  adherent, 
nominally,  of  the  anti-Whitfieldian  ways,  but  who  was  of 
fervent  piety  and  of  eminent  prudence,  there  was  a  blending 
of  the  better  elements  of  both  sides,  a  quiet  resistance  to  ex- 
treme tendencies  either  way,  and  the  development  of  a  spirit 
of  active  and  conservative  religious  life.  The  fires  early 
kindled  here  were  controlled,  not  smothered,  by  their  sur- 
roundings, and  their  light  and  heat  have  ever  remained, 
and  this  church  has  always  been  distinguished  for  its  re- 
vival spirit  and  work. 

Area  of  Alamance  Congregation. 
The  community  which  united  in  this  church  reached 
from  the  South  Buffalo  to  the  Great  Alamance,  extending 
over  an  area  of  at  least  sixteen  miles  across,  and  embracing 
the  country  now  occupied  by  the  congregation  of  Bethel, 
(Presbyterian,)  of  Piney  Grove,  (Meth.  Prot.,)  of  Mt.  Pleasant, 
(Meth.  Ep.,)  of  Mt.  Moriah,  (Meth.  Prot.,)  of  Pleasant  Garden ? 
(Meth.  Ep.,)  and  of  Tabernacle,  (Meth.  Prot.,)  and  of  part  of 
the  Greensboro'  and  other  congregations,  and  a  spirit  of  law 
and  order,  and  a  community  of  feeling  and  purpose  per- 
vaded the  settlement.  The  best  lands,  and  the  best  sites  for 
habitations  and  mills1  were  soon  occupied,  and  some  of  the 
first  mills  have  successors  still  occupying  the  old  positions, 
and  many  of  the  old  homes  are  occupied  to  this  day,  while 

aThe  Young  Mill,  near  herey  now  Hannah's,  and  originally  Cnsack's, 
is  nearly  as  old  as  this  church,  and  was  seized  and  operated  by  the  sol- 
diers of  Cornwallis. 


ANTIQUITIES.  13 

a  great  majority  of  the  family  names  have  representatives 
before  me  now,  and  some  families  whose  names  are  extinct 
have  lineal  descendants  here. 
And  just  now  is  a  good  time  to  glance  at  our 

Antiquities. 

The  origin  of  the  name  of  Alamance  is  involved  in  obscurity, 
and  we  are  left  to  conjecture.  Col.  Byrd,  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  commission  from  Virginia  appointed  to  run,  in 
conjunction  with  a  commission  from  North  -Carolina,  the 
boundary  line  between  the  two  provinces,  wrote  a  diary  of 
his  work,  travels,  and  observations.  He  was  on  the  com- 
mission till  late  in  1729,  but  it  is  not  known  when  he  wrote 
out  his  wTork,  probably  not  till  some  years  afterwards.  To- 
ward its  conclusion,  in  describing  the  trading  path  from  the 
white  settlements  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  to  the 
Indian  towns  in  South  Carolina  and  upper  North  Carolina, 
he  alludes  once  to  the  Aramanchy  river,  and  in  a  way  to 
make  it  probable  that  the  reference  is  to  the  Great  Ala- 
mance. It  is  not  known  that  Aramanchy  is  anywhere  else 
used  except  in  Morse's  Gazetteer,  published  first  in  1799, 
and  long  after  the  settlements  here,  and  when  no  such  word 
was  known  among  this  people.  There  is  not  a  trace  of  a 
tradition  of  any  other  name  of  the  waters  from  which  the 
church  was  called  than  the  present,  and  tradition  among 
an  intelligent  people  whose  descendants  occupy  the  old 
homes,  and  where  only  four  generations  have  lived,  is  of 
high  authority.  I  have  desired  to  trace  our  beautiful  name 
to  an  Indian  origin,  but  the  authority  is  very  slender.  Col. 
Byrd  was  a  decided  egotist,  and  manifested  a  contemptuous 
opinion  of  North  Carolina ;  and  it  is  possible  that  if  he  had 
heard  the  traders  speak  of  an  Alamance  he  would  have  in- 
ferred that  it  was  a  North  Carolina  vulgarism  for  Araman- 
chy, just  as  Morse  calls  the  Great  Alamance  Aramanchy, 
nearly  half  a  century  after  the  name  was  well  established. 
I  have  examined  quite  a  number  of  qriginal  grants  from 


14 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


the  offices  of  Earl  Granville  for  lands  on  these  waters,  and 
all  use  one  word,  spelling  it  with  two  l's,  sometimes  Alle- 
mance,  and  sometimes  Allamance,  and  I  have,  also,  seen 
old  writings  in  the  congregation,  each  using  the  same  word, 
and  none  showing  signs  of  transition  from  another. 

The  earliest  grant  I  have  seen  is  dated  in  1753,  but  there 
were,  probably,  some  before  this  date ;  and  deeds  for  land 
are  so  called,  because  they  are  supposed  to  be  a  man's  most 
deliberate  and  solemn  business  transaction,  and  they  are 
high  authority  for  what  they  name,  and  certainly  in  the 
offices  of  Earl  Granville  there  must  have  been  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  natural  features  of  the  country  ceded  by  his 
grants  to  settlers.  As  it  is  known,  there  are  two  Alamances, 
one  called  Alamance,  and  one  the  Great  Alamance — on  the 
former,  a  tributary  of  the  latter,  this  church  is  located,  and 
on  the  lower  part  of  the  latter  was  the  center  of  German 
colonists.  Is  it  possible  that  Allemence  was  an  Anglicised 
form  of  AUemand  or  Allemania,  the  French  and  Spanish  for 
German  ?  This  supposition  will  rest  somewhat  on  the  date 
of  the  first  German  settlers  below  us,  and  on  this  I  am  not 
prepared  now  to  speak — and  in  my  judgment  the  origin  of 
our  name  is  still  a  matter  of  conjecture,  but  the  word  itself, 
aside  from  all  its  great  and  dear  associations,  is  one  of  the 
sweetest  terms  of  our  language. 

Early  Industries. 

Agriculture  was  the  leading  pursuit  of  our  fathers  here, 
and  with  our  present  staples  were  cultivated  flax,  indigo, 
and  probably  hemp;  and  large  quantities  of  butter  and 
honey  were  made.  Within  my  recollection  there  was  re- 
maining part  of  the  track  of  a  highway  called  the  old  butter 
road,  from  the  quantities  of  firkin  butler  hauled  over  it  to 
distant  markets ;  and  this  was  literally  a  country  of  milk 
and  honey,  and  from  the  latter  was  made  a  drink  called 
metheglin,  which,  with  stronger  beverages,  was  much  used — 
this  people  not  being  free  from  the  national  weakness  and 


SOCIAL  HABITS.  15 

sin  of  the  Scotch.  Oar  ancestors  wore  finer  linen  than  we 
do,  and  linen  sheets,  table  cloths,  and  towels,  were  common, 
and  there  remain  to  this  day  specimens  a  hundred  years 
old  of  the  embroidered  and  neat  handiwork  in  flax  of  our 
mothers.  Most  of  the  arts  needed  by  the  pioneers  were 
early  followed,  and  the  original  settlers  were  far  less  depend- 
ent than  we  are  on  foreign  manufactures.  There  were 
smiths,  hatters,  shoe-makers,  carpenters,  joiners,  weavers, 
mill-wrights,  tailors,  coopers,  tinkers,  tanners,  and  even 
cloth-printers — indeed,  on  many  of  the  farms  were  made 
most  of  the  things  of  common  use,  and  on  nearly  all  were 
tanneries  and  shoe-maker's  tools.  Within  my  recollection 
hat  shops  were  common,  tho'  from  the  first  the  Sunday 
head-tire  of  the  men  was  imported,  made  of  genuine  fur, 
generally  esteemed  elegant  in  proportion  to  the  height,  and 
breadth  at  the  top,  and  expected  to  last  a  year  for  each  dollar 
of  cost.  Genuine  English  broad-cloth  was  worn,  but  the 
fine  gear  for  boys,  and  mostly  for  men  except  on  State  oc- 
casions, was  a  fulled  woolen  cloth,  made  at  home,  and  very 
neat  and  durable.  Looms  abounded,  and  there  were  pro- 
fessional weavers  of  much  skill,  and  the  music  of  the  spin- 
ning wheel,  and  the  songs  of  the  spinners,  with  the  mingled 
sounds  of  the  breakers  and  scutchers  of  flax,  are  associated 
with  my  early  memories. 

Social  Habits. 

Partly  from  the  necessity  of  the  times,  and  partly  from 
neighborly  principles,  there  was  a  great  deal  more  of  mu- 
tual help  than  at  present,  and  the  social  gatherings  of  the 
people  were  almost  always  both  for  work  and  for  pleasure, 
and  were  so  composed  of  all  ages  that  they  completely  rep- 
resented the  family  with  all  its  happy  influences  and  re- 
straints. As  a  general  thing,  the  younger  people  travelled 
on  horse-back,  singly,  double  and'  treble,  according  to  age 
and  condition — the  gift  of  a  saddle  to  the  youth  expanding 
to  manhood  being  what  his  spurs  were  to  the  page  in  the 


16 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


days  of  knighthood,  and  a  side-saddle  was  an  indispensable 
part  of  a  gentlewoman's  dowry  when  given  in  marriage. 
Illiptical  steel  springs  were  not  known,  and  what  we  now 
call  buggies  and  Jersey  wagons  are  of  modern  origin  ;  and 
in  this  region  there  were  very  few  carriages  for  families,  the 
ancient  type  of  which  may  be  seen  occasionally  among  cast- 
away relics  of  the  past.  The  vehicle  chiefly  in  use  with  the 
well-to-do,  was  the  lofty  stick  gig  or  double-seated  sulky, 
swung  on  leather  straps,  and  far  from  safe  with  an  unskil- 
ful John  ;  and  this  was  the  turn-out  of  the  newly  married, 
and  of  fathers  and  mothers,  while  families  often  travelled 
in  wagons,  but  every  aspiring  gallant  and  dashing  miss 
came  seated  on  a  horse  gaily  caparisoned,  and  trained  to 
spirited  action.  Ladies  of  all  ages  went  long  distances  on 
horseback,  not  unfrequently  with  a  lad  or  girl  behind,  and 
a  child  in  front ;  and  even  when  I  was  a  boy  the  gathering 
in  to  church,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  crowd  presented 
scenes  which  would  now  be  considered  as  picturesque  and 
exciting.  There  were  the  roll  of  wagons  well  loaded  with 
all  ages,  and  rapidly  driven,  the  dashing  and  caracoling  of 
steeds  gracefully  managed  by  young  men  and  maidens  in 
pairs  and  troops,  the  cautious  gliding  of  the  gig,  ever  wind- 
ing about  to  keep  out  of  the  way,  the  slow  jog  of  beasts,  one 
with  a  father  and  a  lad  behind,  another  with  the  mother 
and  an  urchin  or  two,  and  others  with  two  and  three  youths 
not  yet  promoted  to  saddles,  mounted  on  blankets,  the 
younger  with  heels  to  the  brute's  flanks  and  thoughts  only 
of  safety,  the  older  looking  anxiously  at  the  saddle-seated 
and  with  legs  dangling  out  to  preserve  the  pants,  and  show 
preparation  for  stirrups.  The  thronged  highway  was 
fringed  with  respectable  pedestrians,  and  in  the  vicinage  of 
the  church  wTere  retired  resting  places  where  the  younger 
ones  stopped,  as  they  came  and  went,  to  don  and  doff  their 
Sunday  stockings  and  shoes. 


miscellany — ecclesiastical  review.  17 
Miscellany. 

The  bureau  of  my  step-grandmother,  some  seven  feet  high, 
and  brought  from  Pennsylvania,  was  to  me  a  museum  of 
curiosities,  among  which  were  her  well  remembered  round 
beaver  riding  hat,  and  her  handsome  whip ;  and  among 
still  preserved  papers  of  my  grandfather,  I  find  the  prices 
of  various  articles,  and  the  names  of  early  settlers  on  sub- 
scription and  assessment  lists,  in  pounds,  shillings  and 
pence.  Linen,  Irish  and  home-made,  was  about  as  cheap  as 
now,  English  broadcloths  not  much  dearer,  and  groceries, 
especially  sugar  and  molasses,  which  are  bulky  and  had  to 
be  hauled  in  wagons  long  distances,  cost  twice  to  four  times 
the  present  prices.  Here  is  a  subscription  to  the  pastor's 
salary,  some  100  years  old,  and  many  of  the  family  names 
now  represented  here  are  on  it,  and  not  a  few  of  the 
baptismal  prefixes  are  still  preserved,  and  some  that  have 
disappeared  from  our  church  rolls  have  lineal  descendants 
on  the  mother's  side  among  us,  others  are  found  and  are 
respected  among  our  Methodist  neighbors,  and  some  have 
made  a  record  in  distant  regions.1 

Ecclesiastical  Review. 

The  first  settlers  of  Alamance  were  trained  to  the  public 
as  well  as  to  the  private  worship  of  God,  and  among  their 
first  movements  was  the  planting  of  the  church  and  of  its 
institutions;  and  to  understand  this  part  of  their  history  it 
is  necessary  to  have  a  general  view  of  the  position  and  pro- 
gress of  the  ecclesiastical  system  with  which  it  was  connect- 
ed. The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  was  originally  the  highest 
court  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  what  is  now  the  United 
States ;  afterwards  there  was  another  Synod,  that  of  New 


1  Among  these  is  the  name  of  McMinn,  a  branch  of  the  Tennessee  Mc- 
Minn's  after  whom  were  named  McMinn  county  in  Eastern,  and  Mc- 
Minnville  town  in  Middle  Tennessee. 
2 


18 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


York,  and  then  a  union  of  these  two,  and  from  1758  to  1788, 
the  United  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  formed 
our  highest  ecclesiastical  Court.  In  1788  the  General  As- 
sembly was  constituted,  and  also  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas, 
and  in  1813  this  last  was  divided  into  the  Synods  of  North 
and  of  South  Carolina.  Till  September,  1770,  Hanover 
Presbytery  embraced  the  country  south  of  the  Potomac,  and 
therefore,  the  Presbyterian  elements  of  this  section  were,  at 
'first,  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  of  the 
United  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  of  Han- 
over Presbytery. 

When  Dr.  David  Caldwell  was  installed  pastor  of  Buffalo 
and  Alamance  churches,  in  March,  17G8,  a  petition  was  sent 
up  to  the  United  Synod  to  have  a  new  Presbytery  south  of 
Virginia,  or  of  the  waters  of  the  Roanoke  in  Virginia,  to  be 
called  the  Presbytery  of  Orange;  and  this  prayer  was  grant- 
ed, and  at  Hawfields,  in  September,  1770,  Orange  Presbytery 
was  organized,  and  included  a  large  scope  of  country,  and 
churches  which  are  now  in  several  States.  Thus  it  was  in 
■a  charge  of  which  Alamance  is  a  part  that  this  old  and  his- 
torical Presbytery  was  started,  and  at  this  church,  in  October 
1813,  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  held  its  first  meeting. 
When  the  southern  and  southwestern  settlements  of  Pres- 
byterians were  formed  their  religious  wants  wTere  made 
known  to  the  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and 
the  records  of  these  latter  show  a  constant  and  watchful 
care  for  the  distant  and  scattered  colonies  of  their  faith. 
From  time  to  time  ministers  were  sent  out  to  preach,  to  ad- 
minister ordinances,  and  to  organize  churches,  and  this  and 
other  Presbyterian  communities  similarly  situated  never 
acted  or  felt  like  people  without  an  ecclesiastical  home. 
This  church  was  organized  by  one  of  the  ministers  thus 
•sent  out,  Rev.  Henry  Patillo,  probably  in  the  year  1762; 
and  its  first  minister  was  Rev.  David  Caldwell,  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  of  the  region  whence  came  many  of  the 
settlers  of  Alamance  and  Buffalo,  who  located  within  the 


CHURCH  EDIFICES.  19 

bounds  of  the  Buffalo  congregation,  and  was  installed 
pastor  of  the  two  churches  in  March,  1SG8. 

Church  Edifices. 

Public  religious  services  in  this  settlement  were  nearly, 
if  not  coeval,  with  its  settlement,  and  as  it  is  proper  to  recur 
to  these  at  the  beginning  of  the  organic  religious  life  here, 
it  will  simplify  the  order  of  historical  narrative  to  give,  in 
this  place,  a  sketch  of  the  various  church  edifices  of  Ala- 
mance. I  cannot  state  the  exact  year  of  the  erection  of  the 
first  building,  but  it  was  very  probably  before  the  year  1762, 
and  it  was  erected  on  the  plateau  just  north  of  the  grave- 
yard, and  on  the  site  occupied  by  its  immediate  successor. 
This  locality  was  then  clothed  with  its  grand  and  solemn 
primeval  growth,  a  forest  of  huge  and  stately  trees,  and 
under  the  thick  canopy  of  their  leafy  boughs  a  company  of 
the  settlers  conducted  the  first  public  worship  of  the  Triune 
Jehovah  on  this  consecrated  ground.  The  land  for  a  church 
was  given  by  Wm.  Cusach,  and  his  spring  was  that  first 
used  by  the  congregation ;  and  on  a  day  appointed,  the 
people,  each  with  an  axe,  came  together  and  it  was  proposed 
by  Andrew  Finley,  a  devout  man,  and  a  leader  in  public 
religious  exercises,  that  before  they  began  their  work  they 
should  kneel  in  prayer  for  the  Divine  blessing  on  their  pious 
enterprise.  The  axes  were  laid  down,  every  head  was 
bared,  and  under  a  great  tree,  in  nature's  own  Temple, 
these  sturdy  pioneers  knelt  while  Mr.  Finley  voiced  their 
humble  and  earnest  supplications  to  the  Throne  of  Grace. 
This  was  the  first  assembly  of  the  saints  in  the  old  and  shady 
wilds  for  long  and  dark  centuries  the  h'&untof  savage  beasts 
and  of  savage  men,  and  to  be  thenceforth  vocal  with  the 
sweet  sound  of  prayer  and  praise;  and  to  these  brief  and 
affecting  religious  exercises  succeeded  a  busy  and  animating 
scene,  the  dense  forest  was  soon  opened,  and  a  log  house  was 
erected  and  devoted  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God.  It  is 
not  certainly  known  how  long  this  house  was  used,  but  tra- 


20 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


dition  fixes  the  time  till  the  close  of  the  century,  and  this 
is  confirmed  by  a  paper  before  me,  being  a  subscription  to 
Marshall  McLean,  Robert  Shaw,  Andrew  Magee,  (McGhee,) 
David  Wiley,  and  William  Wiley,  Sr.,  Trustees,  for  expenses 
incurred  for  church  repairs,  and  dated  August  23d,  1800. 
It  is  probable  that  what  was  begun  as  repairs  ended  in  the 
Second  Building,  which  stood  on  or  near  the  site  of  the 
first,  and  marks  of  the  foundation  of  which  are  still  visible. 
This  was  a  historic  edifice,  a  fine  structure  for  its  day,  and 
was  an  interesting  specimen  of  the  church  architecture  of  the 
age.  It  was  a  frame  building,  painted  dark  yellow,  with  four 
doors,  one  at  each  end,  and  two  on  the  south  side,  over  each 
of  which  was  an  ornamental  shed  or  portico  roof  supported 
by  brackets  from  the  wall.  There  were  many  large  win- 
dows and  a  gallery  around  three  sides,  reached  by  two 
stairways,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  north  side,  and  the  cen- 
ter lengthways  of  the  building,  was  the  pulpit.  The  aisles 
and  pulpit  divided  the  building  below  into  five  compart- 
ments, and  there  were  three  above,  and  one  of  those  below, 
in  the  eastern  corner,  and  as  comfortable  and  well-finished 
as  any  other,  was  allotted  to  the  colored  people,  and  was 
generally  filled  with  cleanly  dressed  and  orderly  hearers  of 
all  ages.  The  eminent  John  Matthews,  D.  D.,  who  was 
from  this  congregation,  and  educated  by  Dr.  Caldwell,  was 
a  joiner  by  trade,  with  a  genius  for  mechanics,  and  I  have 
a  letter  from  one  of  his  sons,  himself  a  D.  D.,  who  tells  me 
that  he  has  heard  his  father  speak  of  a  fine  pulpit  which  he 
made  and  gave  to  his  pastor  and  teacher  for  Alamance 
church.  Doubtless  this  wTas  that  elaborate  and  huge  but 
elegant  work  of  art  vtfhich  was  the  pride  of  the  congregation 
when  I  was  a  boy,  and  which  was  to  me  an  object  of  sacred 
interest.  It  was  of  black  walnut,  with  a  profuse  carving, 
according  to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  and  the  younger  part 
of  my  hearers  will  hardly  realize  wThat  I  mean  when  I  say 
it  was  three  stories  high.  The  minister  certainly  had  a 
lofty  position,  reached  by  a  regular  stairway  with  a  balus- 


i 


CHURCH  EDIFICES.  21 

trade,  and  just  above  his  head,  when  standing,  and  a  part 
of  the  pulpit  and  ornamented  like  it,  with  an  oval  front  of 
carved  wood,  was  the  sounding-board,  which  wTas  hollow, 
and  but  a  little  way  from  the  high  ceiling.  Some  idea  of 
the  altitude  of  this  desk  may  be  formed  when  I  say  that  in 
front  of  it  was  that  of  the  clerk  who  led  the  singing,  whose 
seat  was  some  five  or  more  feet  high,  and  whose  head,  when 
standing,  was  below  the  place  of  the  pulpit  Bible.  When  I 
was  a  boy  there  were  two  of  these  clerks1  who  led  alternate- 
ly, one,  on  each  Sabbath,  standing  and  lining  out  the  hymns, 
and  who,  to  older  persons  than  myself,  were  men  of  weight 
and  unction,  and  associated  with  the  solemnities  of  the  pul- 
pit. It  is  not  too  much  to  say  th-it  they  seemed  to  feel  the 
dignity  of  their  position,  and  I  know  that  in  my  mind  there 
was  a  sacred  atmosphere  enveloping  the  whole  of  this  part 
of  the  house,  from  the  first  step  upwards,  and  even  the  large 
closet  under  the  stand  was  a  solemn  place,  and  for  no  con- 
sideration would  I  have  peeped  in  at  the  door.  The  house 
when  packed  would  hold,  perhaps,  900  or  1,000  souls,  and 
it  was  generally  pretty  well  filled,  and  the  ingathering  to 
the  morning  service,  thro' the  four  doors  and  up  the  stairway, 
was  a  lively  scene.  My  mind  still  retains  the  picture  of  the 
thronging  multitudes  deploying  to  their  places,  at  various 
gaits  according  to  age,  earnestness  and  vanity,  of  the  clatter 
of  feet  over  the  sounding,  uncarpeted  aisles,  and  after  the 
subsidence  of  the  first  confused  noise  the  showy  entrance  of 
parties  who,  in  that  day  as  in  this  come  to  church  to  be 
seen,  and  to  be  heard  too.  It  was  then  an  essential  of  the 
highest  mode. to  have  creaking  shoes,  and  to  know  how  to 
manufacture  creaks  was  a  requisite  in  a  fashionable  shoe- 
maker ;  and  it  was  the  habit  of  dandies,  who  belong  to  all 
ages  and  races,  to  enter  last,  and  on  the  opposite  side  from 
their  seats,  and  to  attempt  a  sensation  by  a  deliberate  march 

lrrhe  person  who  led  the  singing  in  Presbyterian  churches  was  called  a 
dcrk,  pronounced  clcirk^  and  when  hymn  books  were  comparatively 
scarce  it  was  important  to  line  out  the  hymns. 


22 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


across  the  house  and  over  the  galleries,  with  a  sounding 
creak  at  every  step.  The  high  backed  pews,  decorously  de- 
signed to  hide  all  but  the  heads  of  'heir  accupants,  enabled 
many  a  drowsy  soul  to  indulge  in  easy  slumbers,  but  were 
much  in  the  way  of  the  criticism  of  dresses  during  the  ser- 
vices; and  at  my  first  recollection,  the  pastor,  Dr.  Caruthers, 
preached  in  summer  in  a  short  black  Geneva  gown  with 
which  he  was  robed  when  he  entered  church.  Generally, 
the  attention  was  good,  and  the  singing  was  inspiring,  its 
volume  and  pathos  greatly  aided  from  the  colored  quarter  ; 
and  all  my  memories  of  the  worship  in  that  grand  old  house, 
and  of  its  surroundings,  are  reverential.  Everything  wore 
to  me  a  solemn,  tender  and  antique  air,  inducing  to  revery  ; 
and  it  was  my  delight  to  arrive  early  on  the  ground  and  to 
sit  under  the  venerable  trees,  and  with  the  church,  ancient 
looking  and  to  my  juvenile  mind  immense  and  eloquent 
with  silence,  on  one  side,  and  the  gray  stone  walls  of  the 
grave  yard  on  the  other,  listen  musingly  to  the  mingled 
songs  of  birds  which  thronged  the  leafy  coverts  around  me. 
The  boys  and  hunters  had  then  game  more  worthy  of  their 
guns  than  these  gay  creatures  which  gathered  here  in  nu- 
merous and  varied  congregations,  partly  attracted  by  the 
remains  of  basket  dinners  and  of  grain  fed  to  horses ;  and 
the  sweet  melodies  of  the  deep  and  ancient  woods,  and  the 
blue  skies  of  the  still  Sabbath  mornings  of  June  will  ever 
be  associated  with  my  recollections  of  Alamance.  But  in- 
novations came,  and  the  typical  Alamance  house  of  worship 
had  to  go  to  the  ideal  past,  tho*  every  piece  of  timber  in  it 
wras  ready  to  assert  its  soundness  ;  and  in  #1843-'44  was 
erected,  on  the  side  of  the  hill,  just  east  of  the  present  edifice, 

The  third  house  of  worship,  of  brick,  the  pulpit  at 
the  north  end,  and  a  gallery  at  the  south.  The  materials 
of  this  building  were  inferior,  and  it  became  unsafe,  and  in 
1874-'7o  it  was  taken  down,  and 

The  fourth  edifice,  the  house  we  are  now  in,  was 
erected  and  occupied,  but  was  not  entirely  finished  and 


CHURCH  EDIFICES.  23 

furnished  within,  in  its  present  state,  until  this  year.  It 
speaks  for  itself,  and  it  and  its  surroundings  and  this  audi- 
ience  proclaim  the  growing  vigor  of  Alamance  after  the 
flight  of  a  century  and  a  quarter  of  years.  When  we  con- 
sider the  state  of  the  country  for  the  last  20  years,  and  the 
fact  that  there  is  no  debt  on  this  handsome  edifice  of  brick, 
so  neatly  and  conveniently  furnished,  we  can  estimate  the 
zeal  and  vitality  of  the  congregation  which  worships  in  it; 
the  facts  need  no  comment,  and  we  can  and  do  all  rejoice 
to  see  this  old  historical  church  exhibiting  outward  and 
substantial  signs  of  still  growing  vigor. 

While  on  the  subject  of  church  erections,  it  is  proper  to 
advert  to  the  land  dedicated  to  congregational  uses,  and  to 
the  graveyard.  As  before  stated,  Wm  Cusach  gave  the  land 
for  the  church,  and  the  deed  was  afterwards  made  by  his 
son,  Jedediah  Cusach,  and  the  form  and  extent  of  the  area, 
which  was  originally  large  enough,  was  afterwards  changed 
by  exchange  and  purchase,  and  the  property  is  now  ample 
for  all  congregational  uses. 

The  graveyard  was  laid  off  at  an  early  date,  but  I  cannot 
say  when  it  was  first  enclosed  with  stone.  The  wall  looked 
old  from  my  earliest  recollection,  but  rock  walls  of  the  kind 
have  generally  an  ancient  appearance;  and  a  tablet  at  the 
gate  to  the  memory  of  Adam1  Lecky,  who  was  probably  the 


xHe  was  one  of  the  original  body  of  elders,  and  an  old  tablet  of  slate 
at  the  graveyard  gate,  to  his  memory,  has  this  inscription,  author  un- 
known : 

In  Hac  Area  Jacit  Sepultum 
Corpus  Adami  Lecci,  Huic 
Ecclesio  Amici,  &  Per  Ejus 
Pecuniam  Hic  Murus  Enceptus  Erat. 

Tho'  Adam  Lecky  Quits  the  Frame 

That  To  Coruption  Falls, 
Yet  Alamans  Will  Mind  This  Man 
A  Friend  To  All  Her  Walls. 
Feb'ry  9th,  A.  D.  1S03. 


24 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


first  builder,  and  also,  an  elder,  and  tradition  are  our  only 
guides  in  the  premises.  The  first  headstones  were  of  slate 
and  soapstone,  and  some  of  them  are  very  old,  with  quaint 
inscriptions  and  devices,  and  from  boyhood  I  have  loved  to 
study  these  ancient  and  sacred  chronicles.  There  was  no 
general  plan  for  the  graves,  and  shortly  before  the  recent 
war  between  the  States  it  was  found  important  to  enlarge 
the  grounds  to  their  present  extent,  and  the  new  part  was 
laid  off  on  a  general  plan,  furnished  by  myself,  with  walks, 
and  family  lots  which  were  drawn  for  and  marked,  and  the 
arrangement  will  be  convenient  and  furnish  opportunities 
for  becoming  adornments. 

Spiritual  History. 

It  is  known  that  the  early  records  of  Orange  Presbytery 
wrere  lost  by  fire,  but  probably  they  contained  but  meagre 
statistics  from  the  churches.  In  a  manuscript  book  called 
"  Records  of  Orange  Presbytery,"  which  seems  to  have  been 
officially  prepared  to  replace  the  lost  records,  but  largely 
from  memory  and  tradition,  it  is  said  that  this  church  was 
organized  with  22  members,  and  according  to  this  the 
average  membership  was  about  70  to  80  till  the  year  1830. 
This  is  in  part  a  guess,  and  evidently  includes  only  com- 
muning members,  and  not  baptized  children,  and  probably 
the  number  was  larger;  and  in  1829  there  was  a  great 
revival  which  profoundly  impressed  my  boyish  heart,  and 
in  1830  the  communicants  were  reported  at  120.  I  am  in- 
clined to  the  opinion  that  it  was  about  at  this  era  when 
children,  or  young  persons,  began  to  flock  into  the  fold  ; 
and  before  this,  while  the  minors  of  the  congregation  were 
carefully  raised  and  catechised,  and  were  religiously  im- 
pressed, there  was  a  timidity  and  caution  about  their  open 
profession  of  faith.  It  is  not  necessary  to  give  the  member- 
ship at  different  dates,  but  only  to  say,  in  general  terms? 
that  amid  all  the  mutations  of  the  times,  and  while  the  area 
of  the  congregation  has  been  much  contracted,  and  many 


REVIVALS.  25 

other  churches  have  been  formed  on  its  original  territory, 
the  total,  not  relative,  number  of  communicants  has  been  on 
the  increase,  and  is  now  185.  These  statements  contain 
food  for  thought,  and  show  a  considerable  relative  increase 
of  professors  of  religion;  in  other  words,  they  prove  that  a 
far  greater  number  of  the  members  of  the  congregation  are 
now  members  of  the  church  than  in  former  times,  and  that 
the  proportion  of  outside  hearers  has  been  regularly  dimin- 
ishing. Our  observation  confirms  this  teaching  of  figures, 
and  we  know  that  as  the  country  grows  older  the  ratio  of 
church  communicants  increases,  whatever  may  be  said  as 
to  the  progress  or  deterioration  of  morals. 

The  original  type  of  Alamance  Christianity  was  fervent, 
and  it  has  so  remained,  and  the  history  of  the  church  has 
been  marked  by 

Revivals. 

These  have  occurred  at  frequent  intervals,  but  I  shall 
mention  only  those  which  have  acquired  a  historical  impor- 
tance. In  1791,  there  was  one  which  extended  througb 
several  counties,  and  its  influence  was  felt  here;  and  in 
1801  there  was  a  revival  over  a  large  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  reaching  with  power  this  congregation.  In  1829 
there  was  a  gracious  out  pouring  of  the  Spirit  here,  and  the 
results  were  wide- spread  and  lasting,  and  may  be  visibly 
traced  down  to  the  present  time.  I  could  mention  some  of 
these,  if  time  permitted,  and  show  the  infusion  of  new  in- 
fluences into  the  church,  and  the  beginnings  of  new  family 
and  individual  histories,  some  of  which  have  exerted  a  be- 
neficent power  in  other  States.  The  entire  community  was 
moved,  and  for  days  and  nights  the  church,  the  tents,  and 
all  the  surrounding  w7oods  resounded  with  prayer  and 
praise,  and  religion  was  the  absorbing  theme  ;  and  about 
forty  persons  were  added  to  the  membership  of  this  church, 
and  former  professors  seemed  to  begin  their  Christian  life 
anew. 


26 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


In  the  Fall  of  1858,  there  was  another  great  work  of 
grace,  and  I  was  then  a  licentiate,  and  was  here  and  labor- 
ing from  the  commencement  to  the  close  of  the  protracted 
and  glorious  meeting,  except  for  a  lew  days  when  I  was 
called  away  by  public  duties.  A  marked  characteristic  of 
the  services  was  the  absence  of  ambitious  pulpit  displays,  a 
feeling  demonstration  occurring  after  the  first  sermon,  and 
a  sustained  interest  being  kept  up  for  a  long  season  with 
few  ministers  present.  This  revival,  like  that  of  1829 
brought  new  families  into  the  fold,  and  an  increased  vital- 
ity that  has  been  manifested  ever  since;  and  the  Divine 
beneficence  was  the  more  conspicuous  in  the  time  of  this 
blessed  visitation  for  it  was  just  before  that  era  of  desola- 
lions — the  war  between  the  States.  Of  the  many  young 
men  who  then  made  a  profession  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  a 
number  now  sleep  in  that  grave  yard,  slain  in  battle, — and 
two  of  these  were  thinking  of  the  ministry,  were  personally 
very  dear  to  me,  one  of  them  my  nephew,  and  still  another 
had  been  in  my  employment.  Three  others,  dating  their 
conversion  from  that  time,  are  now  in  the  ministry,  and  a 
fourth,  now  middle-aged,  is  a  candidate  for  the  sacred  office. 
There  have  been  many  other  and  great  manifestations  here 
of  the  Spirit's  power,  occurring  at  comparatively  brief  in- 
tervals, and  Alamance  has  been  so  characterized  by  such 
gracious  manifestations  that  natives  of  the  congregation  and 
others  have  come  here  from  distant  places  expressly  to  ob- 
tain good  from  the  moved  waters.  For  many  years  the 
protracted  meetings  drew  large  crowds,  and  the  services  had 
to  be  conducted  in  the  open  air:  and  I  can  say,  from  per- 
sonal experience,  that  there  was  a  flocking  to  these  Feasts 
of  Tabernacles  from  a  feeling  of  devotion,  that  multitudes 
often  realized  that  it  was  good  to  be  here,  and  that  order 
and  sobriety  characterized  these  great  assemblies. 

Institutions. 

1.  Sabbath  School.    The  Sabbath  School,  as  a  fixed  in- 


INSTITUTIONS.  27 

stitution  of  the  church,  was  established  here  in  a  vigorous 
form  about  the  year  1825,  and  John  Finley,  son  of  Andrew, 
and  generally  called  Master  Finley,  was  its  first  Superin- 
tendent, and  long  devoted  himself  to  it  with  great  zeal  and 
piety.  It  was  his  pet,  and  he  seemed  to  love  all  the  chil- 
dren as  his  own,  and  apparently  his  supreme  wish,  as  he 
often,  often  said,  was  to  meet  them  in  heaven.  There  was 
preaching  on  alternate  Sabbaths,  and  on  the  others  Master 
Finley  held  his  School,  having  a  session  morning  and  after- 
noon, with  an  intermission  for  a  basket  dinner.  There  was 
a  large  attendance,  and  much  of  the  afternoon  session  was 
passed  in  devotional  exercises,  during  which  Master  Finley 
nearly  always  became  excitedly  happy  ;  and  I  can  well  re- 
member his  white  hairs  and  his  tender  tones  as  he  passed 
from  pew  to  pew  singing  of  the  better  land,  and  grasping 
the  hands  of  the  children  and  patting  them  on  the  head. 
On  preaching  days  there  was  a  Bible  class  before  service, 
generally  of  adults  and  heads  of  families,  taught  by  the  pas- 
tor :  and  the  Sabbath  School  has  continued,  with  short  in- 
termissions, to  the  present  time. 

2.  Female  Benevolent  Society.  This  was  organized 
about  the  year  1823,  with  Mrs.  Wm.  Woodburn  for  Presi- 
dent, Mrs.  Anne  Wiley,  (my  mother,)  Secretary,  and  Mrs. 
Joseph  Rankin,  Treasurer,  and  was  a  source  of  no  little 
good.  At  first  and  for  some  time  it  convened  monthly, 
with  concert  of  prayer,  and  then  once  a  year,  some  of  the 
members  having  to  come  long  distances  and  a  number  of 
them  having  families  of  young  children.  The  circum- 
stances of  this  devoted  band  of  Christian  workers  were  far 
different  from  those  of  such  societies  now,  even  in  the  coun- 
try, not  to  speak  of  those  in  cities  and  towns ;  the  congre- 
gation extended  over  a  wide  area,  there  were  not  such  easy 
modes  of  travel,  and  mothers  had  to  bring  their  children, 
sometimes  on  horseback,  and  the  church  was  not  heated, 
tho'  there  was  a  session  house  with  chimney  and  fire  place. 
My  mother  would  sometimes  bring  me,  and  leave  me  to 


28 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


while  the  time  as  I  could,  my  boyish  imagination  impressed 
with  the  solemnities  of  my  surroundings;  and  at  a  very 
early  age  my  curiosity  was  excited  about  the  character  and 
state  of  the  nations  of  the  earth  by  the  old  Missionary  Herald 
which  was  read  at  the  meetings.  This  society,  under  its  first 
organization,  raised  over  §500,  money  made  by  the  labor  of 
the  ladies  themselves,  and  not  pressed  out  of  their  husbands 
and  fathers,  nor  collected  thro'  the  agency  of  fairs,  suppers, 
and  other  such  appliances  of  modern  times;  and  by  its 
funds  it  aided  the  Elliot  Mission,  (Indian,)  educated  an  In- 
dian, named  after  Dr.  Caldwell,  made  Dr.  Caruthers  a  life 
member  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  replenished  the 
Sunday  School  Library,  and  assisted  in  the  education  of 
young  men  preparing  for  the  ministry.  After  a  faithful 
and  useful  career  it  was  suspended,  but  was  revived  again 
into  vigorous  life  in  1873,  and  some  of  its  useful  fruits  are 
now  before  us.  By  the  industry  of  its  members  it  has  raised 
considerable  sums  of  money,  has  made  liberal  contributions 
towards  the  finishing  and  furnishing  of  this  neat  edifice, 
and  it  follows  in  the  old  paths,  and  earns  its  resources  by 
legitimate  means. 

Early  in  this  century,  Samuel  Porter,  son  of  Elder  James 
Porter,  who  never  married,  and  who  was  drowned,  brother 
of  my  step-grandmother,  left  $300  for  the  purchase  of  a 

(3)  Church  Library,  a  liberal  sum  for  that  day,  and 
with  which,  and  possibly  with  other  means,  a  well  selected 
stock  of  books  was  bought,  a  great,  and  at  the  time,  unusual 
advantage.  In  this  library  were  many  standard  religious 
books,  and  some  of  the  best  of  the  English  classics,  and  I 
can  testify  to  the  importance  and  usefulness  of  these  literary 
treasures.  They  appeared  to  me  as  an  invaluable  store,  and 
I  must  confess,  excited  my  cupidity.  Often  did  I  feast  my 
eyes  on  their  titles,  and  they  were  worth  to  me  more  than 
an  inheritance,  though  in  my  day  they  were  going  the  way 
of  all  such  libraries,  and,  till  I  left  for  boarding  schools,  I 


INSTITUTIONS. 


29 


was  too  young  to  fill  the  office  of  my  first  and  great  ambi- 
tion, that  of  Congregational  Librarian. 

(4.)  Protracted  and  Camp  Meetings  may  be  said  to 
have  been,  for  a  long  time,  institutions  of  this  church.  They 
were  a  necessity  of  the  age  of  their  origin,  when  settlements 
were  comparatively  sparse,  and  when  entire  families,  living 
at  a  distance  from  the  church,  could  not  attend  its  services 
together.  When  there  was  a  desire  to  carry  the  gospel  to 
all  the  people,  and  to  each  member  of  every  household,  and 
churches  could  not  be  erected  for  small  areas  of  territory, 
annual  encampments  were  established,  first  and  for  a  con- 
siderable period,  of  tents  only,  and  afterwards  of  board  houses, 
with  many  of  the  conveniences  of  home.  There  were  camp 
meetings  both  at  Alamance  and  Buffalo,  and  within  my 
recollection  all  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  the  county, 
including  that  of  Greensboro,  had  a  union  camp  ground, 
with  pulpit,  arbor,  and  seats,  in  the  woods  south  of  the 
present  Poor  House,  and  where  the  meetings  were  attended 
by  many  ministers.  The  first  out-of-doors  stand  at  this 
place  was  on  the  declivity  west  of  the  old  framed  church 
under  a  great  poplar,  with  seats  running  back  to  the  church. 
When  the  first  brick  edifice  was  erected,  the  arbor  was 
moved  to  the  woods  just  east  of  it,  and  the  pulpit  or  stand 
still  remains.  Camp-meetings  were  still  held  at  Alamance 
long  after  they  were  discontinued  at  other  churches  in  our 
connection,  in  this  region,  generally  on  alternate  years,  and 
down  to  the  late  war  between  the  States.  There  was  a  pro- 
tracted meeting  every  year  late  in  the  summer  or  early  in 
the  fall,  and  I  speak  of  my  own  knowledge  when  I  say  that 
these  were  productive  of  happy  influences.  They  were 
never  marred  by  more  disorder  or  levity  than  are  incident 
to  any  large  gatherings  of  the  people,  and  generally  a  more 
than  usual  solemnity  seemed  to  pervade  all  this  consecrated 
ground.  Families  from  long  distances,  and  all  ages  were 
enabled  to  attend  every  service,  and  for  a  series  of  days,  a 
great  privilege  in  the  country  where  there  cannot  be  weekly 


30 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


congregational  prayer-meetings,  and  where  many  have  to 
stay  at  home  on  the  Sabbath  ;  fraternity  and  social  ameni- 
ties were  promoted,  and  barriers  and  prejudices  caused  by 
isolation  were  broken  down  and  sympathies  were  widened, 
and  neighborly  kindnesses  developed  and  fostered.  Old 
sores  were  healed,  pastor  and  all  his  people  were  made  to 
feel  as  one  family,  the  hold  of  the  world  was  broken,  and 
the  entire  community,  severed  for  a  time  from  worldly  cares, 
and  worldly  scenes,  pulled  out  of  its  eld  and  frozen  ruts, 
became  a  band  of  pilgrims,  with  their  faces  towards  the 
Heavenly  Jerusalem,  their  hearts  fed  with  its  manna,  and 
their  mouths  filled  with  the  sweet  songs  of  Zion.  The  en- 
tire time  was  given  to  spiritual  things,  prayer  and  praise 
were  heard  on  all  sides,  day  and  night,  a  cheerful  air  per- 
vaded all  the  solemnities,  many  pious  souls  were  refreshed 
and  built  up,  and  many  were  the  subjects  of  converting 
grace.  The  last  great  revival  here  was  at  a  camp-meeting, 
and  I  remember  one  case  of  nearly  a  whole  family  of  camp- 
ers, including  the  parents,  who  left  here  rejoicing  in  hopes 
to  which  they  were  strangers  when  they  came.  The  last 
day  wras  always  a  sad  one,  and  people  who  came  with  little 
interest  in  each  other  parted  with  tears  and  affectionate  em- 
braces. These  protracted  meetings  long  held  the  hearts  of 
distant  Alamancers  to  the  old  spiritual  home,  and  of  the 
great  crowds  who  annually  gathered  here  some  came  from 
other  counties  to  visit  the  scenes  of  old  and  dear  associa- 
tions, and  some  to  bring  new  generations  to  the  ancestral 
church,  and  to  ancestral  graves. 

5.  Annual  Congregational  Meetings  were  once  a  char- 
acteristic of  this  church,  a  habit  which  I  had  established 
and  kept  up  as  a  fixed  one  when  I  was  an  Elder,  in  which 
all  the  affairs  of  the  church  were  discussed,  and  which  were 
undoubtedly  productive  of  important  benefits. 

6.  Good  Secular  Schools  sprung  naturally  and  flour- 
ished vigorously  in  this  soil,  being  the  outgrowth  of  the  re- 
ligious character  of  the  people.    The  classical  school  of  Dr. 


INSTITUTIONS.  31 

Caldwell,  the  first  pastor  of  this  church,  and  located  within 
the  bounds  of  the  Buffalo  congregation,  is  known  to  his- 
tory, and  was  one  of  the  foundations,  under  God,  of  the 
moral  power  and  greatness  of  the  country.  From  this  foun- 
tain flowed  fertilizing  streams  over  a  very  wide  area;  here 
were  trained  and  equipped  leaders  of  thought  who  went  out 
to  impress  the  genius  of  this  nursery  of  religion  and  learn- 
ing over  the  vast  expanse  of  the  South  and  West,  and  to 
crystalize  their  chaotic  elements  into  conservative  society. 
Laborious  and  useful  ministers  of  [he  Gospel,  leading  states 
men,  lawyers,  and  physicians,  and  good  citizens  weie  pour- 
ed from  this  reservoir  into  many  States,  and  it  would  re- 
quire volumes  to  detail  the  results,  still  manifest  and  mul- 
tiplying, of  this  famous  institution,  the  humble  seat  of  which 
was  distinguished  by  no  architectural  embellishments. 

In  the  woods,  some  half  a  mile  from  this  place,  long  stood 
a  log  tenement,  with  not  one  material  sign  to  denote  its  em- 
inence, a  building  associated  with  many  dear  memories,  and 
with  historic  names,  and  known  as 

The  Old  Red  School  House,  from  the  color  of  the  clay 
with  which  it  was  daubed.  For  many  years  the  Alamance 
people  kept  up  here  a  flourishing  English  School,  and  sev- 
eral generations  were  trained  within  these  humble  walls  for 
lives  of  usefulness,  and  in  not  a  few  instances  of  high  dis- 
tinction— members  of  Congress  and  of  State  Legislatures, 
professors  in  colleges,  high  State  officials,  and  ministers  of 
the  gospel,  were  taught  at  that  ancient  seat,  and  if  those 
venerable  oaks  could  speak,  what  a  story  they  could  tell  of 
names  now  known  far  hence,  and  once  familiarly  called  un- 
der their  deep  shadows  in  life's  young  and  happy  dawn  ! 
It  is  proper  here  to  refer  to  the  instruction  and  religious 
training  of  the  colored  people.  This  race  was  well-cared 
for  in  the  ministrations  of  the  sanctuary,  and  it  was  the 
habit  in  old  Presbyterian  families  to  teach  the  slaves  to  read, 
and  to  furnish  them  with  Bibles  I  can  speak  knowingly 
for  one,  and  of  my  first  mission  as  a  teacher  ;  and  perhaps 


32 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


it  is  not  generally  known  that  Orange  Presbytery  had  for 
years,  in  the  old  days  of  slavery,  a 

A  Colored  Licentiate.  His  name  was  John  CJiavis,  and 
I  find  it  on  the  roll  from  1806  to  1815,  when  it  disappears, 
and  probably  from  the  death  of  the  licentiate. 

Ecclesiastical  Meetings  Here. 

This  was  a  favorite  resort  for  our  venerable  Presbytery  in 
early  times,  and  when  it  covered  a  vastly  larger  territory 
than  at  present.  It  met  here  September  26th,  1798,  with 
Rev.  Wm.  Thompson  as  Moderator;  Sept,  24th,  1800,  Rev. 
Jas.  H.  Bowman,  Moderator  ;  Sept.  28th,  1802,  same  Mod- 
erator;  Oct.  3d,  1803,  Rev.  Leonard  Prather,  Moderator; 
Sept.  26th,  1804,  Rev.  J.  H.  Bowman,  Moderator  ;  Sept.  24th, 
1800,  same  Moderator;  Sept.  28th,  1808,  Rev.  Danl  Browne, 
Moderator  ;  Sept.  26th,  1811,  Rev.  Murdoch  McMillan,  Mod- 
erator ;  and  not  again,  as  far  as  I  know,  until  now.1  The 
first  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  was  held  here, 
beginning  Oct.  7th,  1813,  opened  by  appointment  of  the 
General  Assembly,  by  Rev.  Jas.  Hall,  D.  D.,  and  Moderated 
b}'  Rev.  R.  H.  Chapman,  father  of  Rev.  R.  H.  Chapman,  D. 
D.,  now  living.  On  this  occasion,  the  members  of  what  is 
now  Fayetteville  Presbytery,  came  for  the  last  time  as  dele- 
gates from  Orange,  and  about  this  time  that  new  ecclesias- 
tical body  wTas  formed.2  The  leading  ministers  of  the  Scotch 
region  embraced  in  Fayetteville  were  well  known  here,  and 
our  people  parted  with  the  genial  and  fervent  generation  of 
Mc's  with  sincere  regret.  Their  name  here  was  long  like 
the  savor  of  ointment  poured  forth  ;  and  my  early  recollec- 
tions are  associated  with  anecdotes  and  incidents  the  old 
people  were  w'ont  to  tell  with  glowing  interest  of  the  good 
Scotch  preachers  of  broad  accent,  and  broader  sympathies,  of 
quaint  humor  and  fiery  zeal.    There  was  a  natural  affinity 


•Rev-  C.  H.  Wiley,  Moderator,  elected  by  acclamation. 
2Concord  Presbytery  was  laid  off  from  Orange  in  1795. 


PASTORS  AND  SUPPLIES. 


33 


between  these  ministers  and  our  people,  and  the  advent  of 
ajScotch  Mc.  marked  the  beginning  of  those  earnest  services 
and  that  social  heartiness  in  which  Alamance  delighted. 

Pastors  and  Supplies. 

The  first  pastor  of  this  church  was  Rev.  David  Caldwell, 
D.  D.,  installed  at  Buffalo  in  March,  1768.  His  eventful 
history  is  recorded  in  the  biography  which  was  a  work  of 
love  of  his  successor  and  has  been  widely  read.  He  was 
born,  educated,  licensed  and  ordained  in  Pennsylvania,  was 
married  in  North  Carolina,  and  lived  a  long  life  of  useful 
activity,  leaving  a  family  of  ministers  and  distinguished  cit- 
izens, an  honored  name,  and  a  moral  monument  which  is 
ever  growing.  He  was  an  able  divine,  a  faithful  and  suc- 
cessful pastor,  a  leader  of  thought  and  action  in  the  forma- 
tive era  of  the  Revolution  and  of  republican  constitutions,, 
one  of  the  best  and  most  laborious  teachers  of  his  day,  and 
as  a  physician  and  neighbor  added  to  the  benefactions  of 
his  multiform  labors.  His  pastorate  lasted  over  half  a  cen- 
tury, and  he  died  in  his  100th  year,  and  was  buried  at  Buf- 
falo, and  a  tablet  was  erected  at  this  church  to  his  memory. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Eli  W.  Caruthers,  D.  D.,  a 
native  of  Rowan  county,  N.  C,  who  received  his  theological 
Education  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  and  who  had  conferred 
on  him  the  title  of  D.D.  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina 
in  the  time  of  President  Swain,  but  whose  modesty  and 
solid  worth  would  hardly  now  win  a  degree  when  literary 
institutions  seem  to  regard  the  privilege  of  bestowing  hon- 
orary distinctions  as  a  means  of  advancing  their  interests. 
His  charge  in  Guilford  was  his  only  one  ;  he  was,  for  a  short 
time,  associated  as  an  assistant  of  Dr.  Caldwell,  and  was  in- 
stalled pastor  of  Alamance  and  Buffalo  in  18211 ;  and  in 
the  year  1846,  the  union  between  the  two  congregations  was- 

^robably  at  Buffalo  in  November,  1821.  Dr.  Caldwell  ceased  to 
preach  about  1820,  and  died  in  1824. 


34 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


dissolved,  and  Dr.  Caruthers  remained  pastor  of  Alamance. 
In  July,  1861,  he  asked_Lhe_congre^ation  to  unite  with  him 
frTaT^^  relation, 
ajij^J^ej^j^  g 
which lunamm^u^^u^^  to-  his 

SdeTityTand  the  appHcation  waTp^secTbyTres^ 
next  session.  Dr.  Caruthers  was  now  in  infirm  health,  and 
did  not  again  engage  in  any  active  and  regular  ministerial 
•work,  and  finally,  in  November,  1865,  after  a  lingering  de- 
cline, he  passed  in  peace  from  the  labors  and  cares  of  earth, 
and  was  buried  here,  and  has  here  a  fitting  tablet  commem- 
orating his  long  and  useful  pastorate.  He  was  never  mar- 
ried, and  without  a  family  of  his  own,  he  freely  devoted  his 
time  and  of  his  means  to  the  education  of  the  offspring  of 
others.  He  was  a  steady  and  life-long  friend  of  general 
education,  and  like  his  predecessor,  kept  abreast  of  the  pro- 
gress of  general  events,  and  was  a  warm  advocate  of  public 
improvements.  He  wTas  a  solid  divine,  whose  opinions  on 
theological  questions  had  weight  with  his  cotemporaries, 
and  was  an  authority  on  the  distinctive  tenets  of  his  church, 
and  yet  he  took  comparatively  little  part  in  things  merely 
•-ecclesiastical,  and  had  no  sympathy  with  ecclesiastical  mar- 
tinets; and  in  his  religious  work  he  fraternized  with  the 
Methodist  and  other  churches  around  him,  especially  in  his 
latter  years.  As  a  preacher  he  was  earnest  and  instructive, 
he  was  a  diligent  student  all  his  life,  and  engaged  in  every 
subject  of  intellectual  enquiry  ;  his  opinions  were  his  own, 
his  convictions  decided  and  courageousl}r  maintained,  and  he 
w7as  in  all  senses  a  strictly  honest  man,  honest  in  opinion,  and 
honest  in  dealing.  His  specialty,  outside  of  his  ministerial 
work,  was  the  Revolutionary  history  of  his  native  and  beloved 
State,  and  his  patient  and  careful  researches  resulted  in  sev- 
eral valuable  works  which  have  enriched  our  local  literature. 
This  was  a  labor  of  love  which  he  prosecuted  with  untiring 
zeal,  and  whatever  the  urgency  of  a  present  engagement,  if 


PASTORS  AND  SUPPLIES. 


35 


revolutionary  game  crossed  his  path  he  was  off  on  instant 
chase  till  he  ran  it  down. 

Like  many  others,  when  he  saw  war  through  the  haze  of 
time  and  distance,  he  failed  to  realize  the  horrors  with  which 
it  is  ever  associated,  even  in  its  mildest  forms;  but  when 
he  was  in  its  midst,  in  his  latter  years,  its  desolations  deeply 
grieved  him,  and  he  was  more  impressed  by  these  than  by 
the  heroism,  self-sacrifice,  and  devotion  which  threw  a  halo 
over  its  bloody  and  repulsive  features.  His  pastorate  and 
that  of  his  predecessor  lasted  some  93  years,  and  this  fact 
reflects  the  chaiacter  of  ministers  and  people  in  the  strong- 
est light,  and  is  in  broad  contrast  to  the  present  spirit  of 
change  manifested  in  nearly  all  our  churches.  It  indicates 
good  and  able  service  on  one  side,  and  appreciation  and  for- 
bearance on  the  other;  it  speaks  of  character  standing  the 
test  of  long  and  varied  trial,  and  of  a  people  who,  conscious 
of  their  own  faults,  did  not  expect  perfection  on  the  part  of 
their  ministers,  who  felt  that  something  depended  on  them- 
selves as  well  as  on  their  pastors,  and  who  were  not  intent 
on  youth,  novelty,  and  sensation  in  their  pulpit  ministra- 
tions. It  ought  to  be  the  rule  and  not  the  exception  that 
a  head  grown  gray  in  public  service  is  most  honored  where 
its  cares  have  been  borne,  and  is  a  crown  of  glory  in  the 
eyes  of  those  over  whom  it  has  watched  till  thus  whitened 
by  time  and  trial;  .but  as  hoar  hairs  are  now  generally  a 
crown  of  thorns  where  they  tell  of  long  labor  and  endurance, 
and  are  a  paramount  reason  for  uprooting  because  all  the 
man's  hopes,  memories  and  interests  are  there  rooted,  the 
long  pastorates  here  ®m  shining  examples,  and  illustrious 
because  most  rare. 

The  church  was  vacant  for  a  time  after  the  conclusion  of 
the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Caruthers,  and  was  served  by  Rev.  P. 
H.  Dalton  as  stated  supply,  your  speaker  often  preaching 
here  as  his  public  engagements  permitted,  from  the  time  of 
his  licensure  in  1855,  till  after  the  installation  of  the  present 
pastor.    On  the  3d  Sabbath  in  November,  1863,  Rev.  Wil- 


36 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


lis  L.  Miller  was  installed  pastor,  and  it  is  not  improper 
to  refer  to  Mrs.  Miller,  though  she  is  still  living,  as  a  writer 
of  deserved  celebrity,  and  to  say  that  some  of  her  sweetest 
poems,  under  the  well  known  signature  of  Luola,  are  asso- 
ciated with  her  Alamance  life  and  experience.  In  1865, 
this  pastorate  was  dissolved  by  the  mutual  consent  of  min- 
ister and  people,  Mr.  Miller  desiring  to  connect  himself 
with  the  northern  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and 
in  December  of  the  same  year,  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Tidball  was 
employed  as  stated  supply.  On  March  3d,  1867,  he  was 
elected  pastor,  and  on  the  4th  Sabbath  of  October  of  the 
same  year,  was  installed.  After  1846,  Dr.  Caruthers  gave 
all- his  time  to  this  church,  Rev.  Mr.  Dalton  preached  here 
twice  a  month,  Rev.  Mr.  Miller  was  elected  for  all  his  time, 
and  so  was  Rev.  Mr.  Tidball,  but  by  subsequent  arrange- 
ment, still  existing,  services  have  been  and  are  held  here  on 
alternate  Sabbaths. 

It  is  impossible,  perhaps,  to  furnish  a  perfect  list  of 
The  Elders  of  this  Church,  from  the  want  of  early  rec- 
ords. I  give  the  following  names,  and  think  it  possible  that 
there  are  others  of  whom  I  have  not  heard :  Samuel  Nelson, 
David  Kerr,  Adam  Lecky,  William  Casach,  Thos.  Wiley,1  An- 
drew Finley,  Wm.  Mebane,  John  Forbis,2  Hugh  Forbis,  John 
Thorn,  Robert  Paisley,  John  Paisley,  Samuel  Allison,  (generally 
spelled  Ellison)  James  Porter,  —  McCann,  Joseph  McLean,  and 
Wm.  Smith,  down  to  1820.  (In  old  records  Paisley  is  spell- 
ed Peaseley,  McLean,  McLane  and  McClaine,Cusach,  Cusick.) 

In  1820,  when  the  records  begin,  Wm.  Smith,  Wm.  Mebane, 
John  Paisley,  and  Joseph  McLean,  appear  as  Elders,  and  on 
Nov.  21  of  that  year  John  Finley  was  ordained.  Feb.  25, 
1826,  Jas.  Ihom,  Nathaniel  Kerr  and  Thos.  Rankin  were  add- 
ed, and  Levi  Houston  was  ordained  about  this  time,  date  un- 
known. May  16th,  1830,  Wm.  Doak,  Wm.  Rankin,  Joseph  Ran- 
kin, and  Jas.  Wharton,  came  in,  Finley  Shaiv,  Rankin  Donnell, 


Called  the  peacemaker. 


2Xot  certain. 


MINISTERS  FROM  ALAMANCE. 


37 


and  Roddy  Hannah,  (often  spelled  Planner,)  May  28,  1842, 
and  Joel  McLean,  Aug.  21,  same  year.  Aug.  21,  1851,  Jas. 
Paisley  and  Joseph  W.  Gilmer  were  added.  Sept.,  1§54,  John 
W.  McMurry  was  received  from  Bethel,  and  Oct.  22d  of  that 
year  Calvin  H  Wiley,1  was  ordained.*  May  27th,  1866,  John 
A.  Pritchett  and  Samuel  Rankin  were  added,  and  on  April 
30th,  1871,  Allen  H.Scott,  William  F.  Thorn,  and  Wm.  Ander- 
son, who,  with  Messrs.  Jos.  W.  Gilmer,  John  W.  McMurray,  and 
John  A.  Pritchett,  constitute  the  present  bench  of  ruling  elders. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  names  of  any 

Deacons,  before  the  year  1844.  Trustees  probably  acted 
in  their  place,  for  in  1800  there  was  a  Trustee's  book  on 
which  there  were  subscriptions,  as  I  find  from  my  grand- 
father's papers,  and  Marshall  McLean,  Andrew  McGehee, 
(spelled,  Magee),  John  Thorn,  David  Wiley,  and  Wm.  Wiley, 
senW,  were  Trustees. 

In  1844,  David  C.  Stewart  and  David  Whitt  were  elected 
Deacons — the  first  named  long  continuing  active  and  faith- 
ful in  the  service.  To  these,  still  living,  were  added  in 
1859,  Allen  II.  Scott  and  John  Donnell,  in  1866,  Jas.  Gannon 
and  Jas.  Thorn  (the  latter  is  now  in  Tennessee,)  and  in  1871, 
Oliver  L.  Boon,  Robt.  -S.  PJiipps,  and  Geo.  M.  Glass,  and  every 
Deacon  elected  is  still  here,  except  Jas.  Thorn. 

As  might  be  expected  from  so  old  a  communion,  of  such 
religious  vitality,  there  is  a  long  roll  of 

MINISTERS  FROM  ALAMANCE. 

Quite  a  number  of  different  denominations  and  in  various 
States  haye  sprung  from  Alamance  stock,  who  were  not 
born  here,  and  I  mention  as  an  instance,  Rev.  Jas.  H.  Mc- 
Neil ly,  pastor  of  the  Moore  Memorial  Church,  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  who  exhibited  to  me  in  the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Cald- 
well, when  tremulous  from  age,  the  certificate  of  his  grand- 


^is  office  was  vacated,  as  was  supposed,  by  his  ordination  tQ  the  full 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry  in  April,  1866. 


38 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


mother's  dismissal;  and  I  shall  have  occasion  to  allude  to 
others.  My  purpose  is,  however,  to  confine  myself  mainly 
to  ministers  born  here,  and  I  will  add,  that  my  list  of  those 
not  Presbyterian  is  not  full,  but  not  for  want  of  effort  on 
my  part  to  make  it  so. 

1.  Rev.  John  Mathews,  D.D.,  was  born  here  in  1770,1  was 
educated  by  Dr.  Caldwell,  and  died  in  New  Albany,  Ind., 
in  1SI8.    He  was  originally  a  joiner  by  trade,  possessed  a 
fine  mechanical  genius,  and  during  all  his  life  amused  him- 
self with  the  study  and  construction  of  delicate  and  intri- 
cate machinery.    Some  of  his  work  in  wood  still  exists  In 
this  congregation.    His  first  charge  was  in  North  Carolina, 
and  afterwards  he  preached  for  years  in  Shepherdstown,  Va., 
married  his  first  wife  in  Virginia,  and  in  later  years  moved 
to  Indiana,  and  founded  and  was  Professor  of  Polemic  The- 
ology in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  New  Albany,  after- 
wards merged  in  the  North-western  Theological  Seminary, 
now  located  and  ably  conducted  in  Chicago,  Illinois.  Thus 
the  light  that  now  so  brightly  illumes  the  far  north-western 
skies  may  be  said  to  have  been  kindled  from  a  coal  taken 
from  Alamance  fires.    Dr.  Mathews  was  the  author  of  "  The 
Divine  Purposes,"  which  has  been  long  a  Presbyterian 
standard,  and  was  an  able  and  voluminous  contributor  to 
Presbyterian  reviews  and  newspapers,  and  a  friend  and  cor- 
respondent of  Dr.  Hoge,  the  elder,  Dr.  Rice,  and  other  repre- 
sentative men  of  the  time.    He  was  as  able  and  eminent  in 
the  pulpit  as  with  his  pen,  and  his  preaching  power  is  well 
remembered  ;  and  one  of  his  sons,  himself  a  Doctor  of  Di- 
vinity, his  oldest  son,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  me,  says  with 
filial  but  honest  enthusiasm,  "  I  am  now  entering  on  my 
75th  year,  and  have  been  preaching  50  years,  but  I  have 
f Ailed  to  see  just  such  a  man  as  my  venerable  father.  His 
memory  is  embalmed  with  the  sweetest  fragrance."  His 

lrrhe  facts  concerning  Dr.  M.  are  taken  mostly  from  recent  letters  to 
me  from  his  sons,  Rev.  Win,  Caldwell  Mathews,  D.D.,  of  Louisville,  Ky., 
and  Rev.  John  D.  Mathews,  D.D.,  of  Wade's  Mills,  Ky. 


PASTORS  AND  SUPPLIES. 


39 


oldest  daughter  is  the  wife  of  a  minister,  Rev.  John  M. 
Harris,  near  Romney,  West  Virginia,  and  he  has  three  sur- 
viving sons,  ministers,  Rev.  W,  C.  Mathews,  D.D.,  of  Louis-, 
ville,  Ky.,  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  J.  D- 
Mathews,  D.D.  ,  of  Wade's  Mills,  Ky.,  of  the  Southern  Pres, 
byterian,  and  Rev.  R  C.  Mathews,  D.D.,  of  Monmouth,  111. 
of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church. 

2.  Rev.  Wm.  Paisley,1  born  and  raised  in  this  congrega- 
tion, has  left  a  memory  that  will  be  long  and  widely  cher- 
ished and  honored.  He  was,  under  God,  the  founder  and 
first  minister  of  the  Greensboro  Church,  did  much  evange- 
listic work,  largely  of  his  own  volition,  and  was  a  very 
earnest,  laborious,  fervent  preacher,  full  of  fire  in  the  pulpit, 
courageous  for  the  truth,  meek  and  tender  in  his  disposition, 
and  long  spared  to  serve  the  Master  with  single-hearted 
devotion.  He  was  useful,  esteemed,  beloved,  and  prominent 
as  a  minister  and  citizen,  and  his  walk  in  all  his  long  life 
ever  appeared  to  be  with  God. 

3.  Rev.  Samuel  Paisley  was  also  of  Alamance,  was  an 
impressive  and  solemn  preacher,  who  labored  in  various 
places  in  North  Carolina,  and  who  died  not  long  ago  in 
Moore  county  in  a  good  old  age. 

4.  Rev.  J  as.  Kerr  was  a  son  of  elder  Nath.  Kerr,  but  I 
am  not  familiar  with  his  ministerial  life,  knowing  only  that 
he  had  the  name  of  a  good  preacher,  and  of  a  faithful  min- 
ister. 

5.  Rev.  Samuel  McAdoo,2  who,  after  his  licensure,  moved 
to  Kentucky  and  joined,  in  its  infancy,  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church,  which  now  has  a  Presbytery  named 
for  him. 

Ordained  in  1798. 

2For  facts  in  the  lives  of  Rev.  Samuel  McAdoo,  and  of  Rev.  Robert 
Donnell,  and  Rev.  Geo.  Donnell,  I  am  under  obligations  to  Rev.  Rich- 
ard Beard,  D.D.,  Theological  Professor  in  Cumberland  University,  at 
Lebanon,  Tenn.  He  is  well  posted  in  the  history  of  his  church,  and  has 
taken  much  interest  in  that  of  ours,  and  his  interesting  communication 
to  me  indicates  his  love  for  the  memory  of  men  of  Alamance  lineage. 


40 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


6.  Rev.  John  McLean,  of  whose  labors  I  have  no  facts, 
son  of  elder  Joseph  McLean,  moved  to  the  southwest,  and 
died  there. 

7.  Rev.  John  Paisley,  son  of  elder  John  Paisley,  preached 
at  the  Red  House  Church,  North  Carolina,  and  died  young. 

8.  Rev.  Addi  Thom  went  to  Virginia  and  thence  to  Ten- 
nessee, and  finally  to  Texas,  where  he  was  a  Professor  in 
the  first  Presbyterian  College  there,  and  where  he  died,  a 
man  of  mark. 

9.  Rev.  Daniel  G.  Doak,  son  of  elder  Wm.  Doak,  preached 
first  in  Virginia,  then  and  for  a  long  time  at  Zion  Church,1 
near  Columbia,  Tennessee,  where  his  name  is  held  in  high 
regard,  and  went  thence  to  Sardis,  Mississippi,  where  he 
recently  died.  He  taught  and  preached,  and  was  earnest 
tender,  and  laborious. 

10.  Rev.  David  K.  Thom  was  once  a  Missionary  to  the 
Indians,  afterwards  joined  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  finally  became  somewhat  erratic  in  mind. 

11.  Rev.  John  H.  Coble,  now  of  Fayetteville  Presbytery, 
stated  supply  of  Laurinburg  and  Montpelier  Churches. 

12.  Rev.  John  Woodburn,  located  at  Hendersonville,  N. 
C,  preacher  and  teacher. 

13.  Rev.  L.  A.  T.  Jobe,  of  Clarendon,  Arkansas,  preacher 
and  teacher. 

14.  Rev.  Elias  F.  Pbitchett,  now  of  Lawson,  Missouri, 
preacher  and  teacher. 

15.  Rev.  David  C.  Rankin,  now  Principal  of  the  General 
Assembly's  Institute  for  the  training  of  colored  ministers,  at 
Tuskaloosa,  Alabama. 

16.  Rev.  Calvin  H.  Wiley,2  your  speaker. 

xThe  colored  membership  of  this  church  was  large  and  well  trained, 
and  16ng  remained  in  it  after  the  late  Avar,  as  I  know  from  observation, 
and  finally,  after  a  union  of  counsel  of  both  races,  and  with  good  feeling 
in  both,  formed  a  separate  church  of  their  own. 

2Licensed  at  the  Fall  Session  of  Orange  Presbytery,  T855,  while  State 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  Continuing  in  public  office  till  the 
close  of  the  war  between  the  States,  he  was  not  ordained  until  the  Spring 
Session  of  Presbytery,  1866. 


PASTORS  AND  SUPPLIES. 


41 


17.  Rev.  Calvin  Denny,  who  joined  this  church  from 
Bethel  shortly  before  his  licensure,  and  who  connected  him- 
self with  the  German  Reformed  church  while  still  a  licen- 
tiate. 

18.  Rev.  Calvin  Gannon,  of  the  N.  C.  Conference  of  the 
Meth.  Ep.  ch.  South. 

19.  Rev.  Hugh  A.  Wiley,  of  the  N.  C.  Conference  of  the 
Meth.  Ep.  ch.  South. 

All  these,  except  Calvin  Denny,  were  born,  raised  and 
trained  here,  and  to  them  should  be  added  of  ministers  born 
here : 

20.  Rev.  Thos.  H.  Nelson,1  the  founder  and  first  minister 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Knoxville,  Term.,  where 
he  died. 

21.  Rev.  Robt.  Donnell,2  who  was  raised  in  Tennessee, 
where  he  became  an  able  and  very  influential  minister  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church. 

22.  Rev.  Geo.  Donnell,  raised  in  Tennessee,  a  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  Minister,  held  in  high  esteem,  the  founder 
and  first  minister  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church 
at  Lebanon,  the  seat  of  Cumberland  University.  He  died 
in  the  meridian  of  life,  much  lamented  by  his  people. 

The  late  Rev.  Wm.  Nelson  Mebane,  whose  precious  memory 
we  all  cherish,  was  of  Alamance  stock  ;  and  so  was  the  late 
Paisley  Wharton,  who  died  young  and  promising,  and  so 
were  quite  a  number  of  worthy  brethren  whom  I  could 
name,  of  the  Meth.  Ep.  and  Meth.  Protestant  churches. 

Finally,  this  church  has  now  two  candidates  for  the  gos- 
pel ministry,  John  A.  Gilmer,  Jr.,  and  Wm.  F.  Thom,  and 
may  soon  have  a  third,  and  many  of  its  old  family  names 
are  represented  on  the  ministerial  roll. 

It  has  given  a  man  to  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  for  every 

JI  am  indebted  for  facts  of  his  life  to  Rev.  Thos.  W.  Humes,  LL.D.,  of 
the  Ep.  ch.,  President  of  Knoxville  University,  who  was  born  in  the 
congregation  of  Mr.  Nelson,  and  when  young  attended  his  church. 

2See  note  on  notice  of  Rev.  Samuel  McAdoo. 


42 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


six  years  of  its  existence,  and  her  sons  and  descendants  have 
proclaimed  the  glad  tidings  of  Salvation  in  many  places  in 
North  and  South  Carolina,  and  in  both  Virginias,  in  Geor- 
gia, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Ohio,  Arkan- 
sas, Missouri,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Texas. 

Secular  History. 

As  already  stated,  this  congregation  was  originally  in 
Orange  and  Rowan  counties,  and  then  in  Guilford.  It  was 
in  two  parishes  of  the  Episcopal  church,  established  by  law, 
but  with  no  Episcopalians  within  its  territory,  and  it  has 
been  under  two  local  and  three  national  governments.  It 
was  originally  in  the  Province  of  North  Carolina,  under  the 
authority  of  the  British  Crown,  then  it  was  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  then  in  the  Confederate  States,  and  is 
now  again  in  the  United  States.  It  has  passed  through 
three  domestic  wars,  that  is,  wars  waged  in  whole  once,  and 
in  part  on  twTo  occasions  in  this  State,  and  decisive  events  in 
each  occurred  near  to  it. 

The  Regulators'  War  was  an  uprising  of  the  people  of 
Middle  North  Carolina  against  the  exactions  and  lawless 
oppressions  of  local  authorities  under  the  British  Crown,  and 
was  based  on  the  principles  which  caused  the  great  revolu- 
tion of  1776,  and  was  in  fact  the  beginning  of  that  grand 
struggle. 

The  agitation  of  the  Regulators  or  "Sons  of  Liberty," 
which  were  the  dawn  of  American  freedom,  were  manifest- 
ed openly  in  1766,  and  had  their  center  in  what  was  then 
Orange  county,  and  extended  some  distance  west  and  south 
of  the  county  limits.  On  the  16th  of  May,  1771,  they  cul- 
minated for  the  time  in  the  battle  of  Alamance,  near  the 
waters  of  the  Great  Alamance  Creek,  in  the  present  county 
of  Alamance,  about  thirteen  miles  south  of  east  of  this  place; 
on  one  side  was  an  equipped  army,  on  the  other  a  tumultu- 
ous assembly  of  people  without  military  leaders,  and  largely 
without  arms,  and  the  military  result  was  a  disaster  to  the 


SECULAR  HISTORY. 


43 


latter,  the  moral  and  political  a  final  triumph  to  the  cause  for 
which  the  blood  of  patriots  was  there  first  shed.  The  people 
of  this  congregation  were  in  deep  sympathy  with  the  move- 
ment of  "The  Sons  of  Liberty,"  and  a  number  of  young 
men1  from  here  were  in  the  crowd  that  confronted  Tryon's 
forces,  having  gone  to  the  scene  of  conflict  as  outsiders,  so 
to  speak,  but  with  a  fervor  that  could  not  rest  at  home  at 
such  a  crisis  ;  and  they  beheld  and  were  then  ever  fixed  in 
their  convictions  when  the  cause  of  equal  rights  first  con- 
fronted the  storm  of  battle. 

Of  those  who  fell  here,  and  of  the  field,  the  poet2  has  said, 

"Immortal  youth  shall  crown  their  deathless  fame, 
And  as  their  country's  glories  still  advance, 
Shall  brighter  blaze,  o'er  all  the  earth,  thy  name  . 
Thou  first  fought  field  of  freedom,  Alamance  !" 

This  county  was  the  scene  of  closing  and  memorable 
events  in  the  succeeding  .Revolution.  The  pastor  and  peo- 
ple of  Buffalo  and  Alamance  early  espoused  the  patriot 
cause,  and  adhered  firmly  and  unitedly  to  it  to  the  end. 
Each  congregation  contributed  able  officers  and  brave  sol- 
diers to  the  cause,  and  the  women  and  children  were  deeply 
embued  with  its  spirit,  and  heroically  ministered  to  it,  and 
suffered  for  it.  No  tories  were  produced  by  these  commu- 
nities, but  each  of  them  was  hated,  and  watched,  and  as- 
saulted by  the  marauding  bands  of  these  domestic  pests ; 
and  many  authentic  traditions  come  down  to  us  of  priva- 
tion, suffering,  loss,  and  courageous  endurance  and  adven- 
ture among  our  people. 

The  armies  of  Greene  and  Cornwallis  were  twice  in  the 
county,  and  the  latter  was  once  encamped  in  this  congrega- 
tion, on  the  premises  of  Ralph  Gorrell,  one  of  its  members. 
The  battle  of  Guilford  Court  House,  the  decisive  engagement 
of  the  war,  was  eleven  miles  from  here,  within  the  bounds 

JMy  grandfather  Wiley,  then  quite  a  youth,  was  present  as  a  spectator. 
2The  late  S.  W.  Whiting,  of  Raleigh,  X.  C,  who  wrote  the  lines  on 
the  battle  of  Alamance  at  my  request. 


44 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


of  Buffalo  ;  and  thither  were  gathered  many  of  our  male 
members,  refugees  from  home  when  Cornwallis  and  the 
emboldened  tories  dominated  the  county,  and  there  they 
fought  as  volunteers,  while  the  pious  women  at  home,  in 
hearing  of  the  guns  of  that  great  day,  were  engaged  in 
prayer  for  them  and  their  cause,  to  the  God  of  battles.  The 
captain  of  this  willing  force,  John  Forbis,1  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  over  bi£  remains  in  that  graveyard  stands  a 
monument  to  his  memory  by  public  subscription.  At  its 
erection,  July  4th,  1860,  there  was  present  a  company  of 
volunteers  whose  soldierly  bearing  was  the  subject  of  general 
remark.  This  was  the  Guilford  Greys,  composed  mostly 
of  young  men,  and  this  was  one  of  the  three  companies  first 
first  called  out  by  the  Governor  in  the  late  war  between  the 
States.  Its  ranks  were  swelled  by  Alamancers,  and  sons  of 
Alamancers,  and  they  were  thinned  on  many  a  dreadful  field 
of  carnage,  and  the  bodies  of  a  number  of  them,  who  were 
members  in  good  standing  in  this  church,  slain  in  battle, 
repose  in  the  consecrated  ground  near  us.  This  congrega- 
tion contributed  to  the  war  at  least  25  men,  and  of  these 
some  10  or  12  were  killed  and  died  in  service. 

In  the  mercy  of  God  our  people  were  united  in  each  of 
the  three  conflicts  that  were  in  the  nature  of  civil  wars,  and 
when  the  last  was  brewing,  were  all  conservative,  and  anx- 
ious to  see  peace  preserved  ;  and  they  passed  through  the 
fiery  ordeals  without  any  of  those  lasting  sores  which  often 
afflict  the  scenes  of  such  extreme  trials.  The  Divine  Head  of 
the  church  has  preserved  it  from  wounds  and  rents  and  from 


1 "  Capt.  John  Forbis,  who  lived  on  the  Alamance,  was  there  with  a 
company  of  volunteers,  the  Allisons,  the  Kerrs,  the  Finlays.  the  Wileys, 
and  others,  most  of  whom  were  his  neighbors,  and  a  braver  band  of  mi- 
litia was  not  on  the  ground.  Pie  (Forbis)  was  mortally  wounded,  and 
several  of  his  men  were  also  wounded,  of  whom  YVm.  Paisley,  father  of 
Rev.  Samuel  T.,  was  one.  A  number  of  individals  of  Buffalo  congre- 
gation volunteered  that  morning,  and  put  themselves  under  officers  of 
known  valor.    Dr.  C druthers'  Life  of  Caldwell,  page  133. 


SECULAR  HISTORY. 


45 


political  dissensions,  and  that,  too,  while  the  congregation 
has  ever  exercised  an  important  influence  in  public  affairs. 

In  the  Convention  at  Halifax,  April.  1776,  which  placed 
the  State  in  military  organization,  one  of  the  three  delegates 
from  Guilford  was  Ralph  Gorrell,a  member  of  Alamance 
church,  and  John  Paisley,  another  member  was  made  Lieut. 
Colonel ;  and  in  the  Convention  at  the  same  place,  of  Novem- 
ber, 1776,  which  formed  our  first  State  Constitution,  and  one 
under  which  we  long  lived,  Mr.  Gorrell  was  a  delegate,  and 
so  was  Dr.  Caldwell,  the  pastor  of  the  church.  The  congre- 
gation has  given  four  State  Senators  who  served  the  county 
in  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  terms  of  the  Legislature,  and  some 
twelve  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  who  served 
in  some  thirty-two  sessions.  It  has  furnished  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  State  one  Superior  Court  Judge1  whose  son2  is 
now  a  U.  S.  District  Judge  for  North  Carolina,  and  a  State 
Judge3  now  serving  is  the  son  of  an  Alamancer,  bearing 
one  of  the  old  names  here  :  one  member  of  Congress,4  and 
two  members  of  the  Confederate  Congress,5  a  State  Geologist6 
who  has  held  his  position  over  fourteen  years,  and  the  first 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools7  who  was  seven  times 
elected  to  terms  of  two  years  each.  To  those  should  be  ad- 
ded the  head  of  the  Engineering  Department8  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  my  intimate  companion  at  the  Old  Red 
School  House,  and  many  others  of  note  and  influence  in 
secular  affairs  in  other  States. 


^on.  John  M.  Dick.  2Hon.  Robt.  P.  Dick. 

3Hon.  John  A.  Gilmer,  the  second,  son  of  Hon.  John  A.  Gilmer,  de- 
ceased. 

4Hon.  John  A.  Gilmer  the  First,  who  was  also  once  the  nominee  of  the 
old  Whig  party  for  Governor  of  North  Carolina. 

5Hon.  John  A.  Gilmer  the  first  of  that  name,  and  Hon.  Jas.  R.  Mc- 
Lean, born  in  Alamance  congregation. 

6Prof.  W.  C.  Kerr.  7Rev.  C.  H.  Wiley. 

8Gen.  J.  F.  Gilmer,  now  of  Savannah,  Ga. 


46 


ALAMANCE  CHURCH. 


Conclusion. 

But  all  the  good  which  has  sprung  from  here,  and  all  the 
privileges  and  happiness  which  have  been  enjoyed  here, 
have  grown  from  one  root- -the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  How  devout  and  grateful  ought  this  people  to 
be  !  A  century  and  a  quarter  have  wrought  their  changes 
in  the  world  since  our  ancestors  were  Divinely  led  to  this 
goodly  region,  and  nearly  all  their  names  are  represented 
here  to-day.  Political  and  financial  convulsions,  wars,  and 
revolutions  have  failed  to  break,  scatter,  or  divide  you  ;  at 
old  homes  and  on  old  plantations  the  same  names  are  still 
known,  and  you  live,  and  work,  and  worship  near  the 
graves  of  your  ancestors,  and  in  the  midst  of  dear  and  sa- 
cred associations  and  memories.  From  generation  to  gene- 
ration the  church  has  flourished,  and  been  open,  and  the 
gospel  has  been  preached,  and  its  ordinances  administered  ; 
and  to  day  we  dedicate  to  this  blessed  service  a  fourth  edi- 
fice, the  handsomest  of  all,  and  by  the  buried  dust  of  ages 
a  strong  congregation  seems  springing  into  new  life  and 
energy.  God  has  done  great  things  for  you,  and  may  you 
and  }7our  children,  and  your  children's  children — may  all 
of  us  and  our  posterity,  through  all  time,  be  found  in  His 
service,  and  abide  under  his  shadow  ! 


97b. bl    N673  P    v. 12  27024 


